


Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes

by A_Raven_Quill



Category: Spider-Man (Cartoon 2017), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Venom (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Romance, Developing Friendships, F/M, Gen, Gwen and Anya know Peter is Spider-Man, Other, Post-Superior Spider-Man Saga, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:26:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 58,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26514406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Raven_Quill/pseuds/A_Raven_Quill
Summary: Peter Parker has never had a problem with his friends gaining spider-powers, but a fifth spider-person appears and their powers are not from the Spider-Island virus. They are from a symbiote who claims to be benevolent. Despite the group's past experience with the V-252 symbiote, they agree to train this Spider-Boy to help him teach his symbiote how to be a hero and to keep an eye on it. Villains both old and new attempt to break the spiders physically and mentally as they uncover the secrets of Carlton Drake's Life Foundation...and maybe even the symbiotes themselves.
Relationships: Anya Sofia Corazon/Original Male Character, Liz Allan/Randy Robertson, Peter Parker/Gwen Stacy, Scream Symbiote & Original Male Character
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	1. A New Day

**Author's Note:**

> A rewrite of my first Spider-Man fanfic Born Ready, Be Greater. I wrote the story after watching season one and season two of the show and finding out that there was a hiatus between episodes twelve and thirteen. In a way, this fanfic was how I coped with the year-long hiatus. I also am aware that season 3 of Spider-Man is focused on symbiotes, but I had the idea for this story before any information on season 3 was revealed.

**Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes (Marvel's Spider-Man 2017 Cartoon)**

**  
Chapter 1**

* * *

It’s been an entire month. An entire month since Peter Parker has managed to get his life back on track. A month and a half ago, one of his many enemies, Otto Octavius aka Doc-Ock, placed a bounty on him. Every super-powered goon in New York wanted that money, and some of them like Electro and Silvermane only became more enemies in his rogues' gallery. After he was tired of exhaustion, Ock managed to get Peter into a corner and swapped minds with him; learning that he was Spider-Man and initially had the plan to ruin Spider-Man’s reputation.  
  
Instead, Ock improved Spider-Man’s relationship with the city and ruined his relationship with his friends. Gwen Stacy, Anya Corazon, Ms. Marvel, and Max Modell. He would have included the other Avengers besides Ms. Marvel.., but some of them actually looked past Ock being a jerk for his superior tactics. Everyone liked the Superior Spider-Man, even J. Jonah Jameson.  
  
However, Ock’s mind was in the body of a robot when he took over Peter’s body. A robot from Horizon High called the Living Brain. And Peter’s consciousness had become a digital lifeform. With this development, he was able to contact Miles using a busted up Octobot that no one bothered to throw out in Horizon’s basement. Just as soon as Miles found a way for Peter to project his image and voice from the robot—  
  
—Gwen and Anya found out the truth.  
  
Seeing the two of them and Miles fight Ock as the Superior Spider-Man made him realize that he should have shared the information with them during Spider-Island, or after he revealed himself to Miles. Maybe it was because Harry was his only friend growing up, maybe it was because he didn’t know how Gwen and Anya would react to it. Miles was different, he wasn’t as hard on Peter or Spider-Man as Anya and Gwen had been. Anya was always supportive of Spidey and for a long while considered Peter a slacker; Gwen was kind to Peter, but never shied away from pointing out Spider-Man’s methods weren’t always right even if he saved the day.  
  
But that’s what friends do. They laugh with you, work with you, and help you to become a better person. And being inside of the Living Brain helped Peter see a fraction of Ock’s memories, his childhood. It was similar to his own, except Ock didn’t have an Uncle Ben. He had a father, but father Octavius was a cruel man who verbally and physically attacked Ock. That was the explanation Peter gave his friends when he restored Otto’s mind into his comma-state body in the hospital.  
  
The last time Peter checked on him, the doctor was still out cold. He didn’t know what Ock would do when, if he woke up. All he could do was hope that Ock’s attempt at heroics makes him reflect on everything he has done in his life and become a better man. Though Peter’s brain was telling him not to bet on it. Given that others have claimed to put aside their villainous past only to return to it. And then there was Raymond Warren and Norman Osborn who threw away family just to achieve their selfish ambitions.  
  
Peter was always reminded of Norman each time he visits Uncle Ben’s tombstone. Norman had a very fancy plot. It was a burial chamber, with Osborn’s body buried in a casket like an Egyptian pharaoh.  
  
Peter will never forget how Norman disowned Harry for not living up to his ideal legacy.  
  
He hopes that no one else has to go through what Harry did with Norman or Gwen with her Uncle Raymond.  
  


* * *

  
It still took Peter some time to comprehend how Ock gotten him sent back to Midtown High. It made sense that he would get Peter kicked out of Horizon High, but he never expected Ock to be okay with Midtown. As elite as the doctor viewed himself Peter assumed Otto would view a public school as inferior to his intellect. Peter was happy that Otto hadn’t made any enemies at Midtown.  
  
No, he had the same jerks picking on him from before his transfer to Horizon. The only time he was safe is when Flash Thompson was around, but Peter didn’t want to take advantage of Flash. And other students were kind to him like Randy Robertson, Mary Jane Watson, and Liz Allan (when she wasn’t angry with him), but it wasn’t the same spark he had with Miles, Gwen, and Anya.  
  
Max Modell did offer him a spot back at Horizon. It was after Miles, Gwen, and Anya told Modell that before switching bodies with Spider-Man, Ock tested his device on Peter. It wasn’t a lie since Peter is Spider-Man and Ock did use the device only once, ergo a single trial run. However, Peter told Max that he would rather get back into Horizon by either earning the money himself or getting ready for Horizon’s next open house that was coming soon. And by spending his lunchtime in Midtown’s science lab his project is close to completion and won’t be ruined by a hippo, a panda-girl, or a girl with electrokinetic powers this time.  
  
‘ _Uncle Ben wouldn’t dwell on bad things, he would move forward to try and make good things happen.’_ Peter walked down the hallway and stopped to look at a poster. _‘And Ms. Marconi getting sponsorship from the Life Foundation is something good for Midtown High. Though I wish part of it wasn’t for the science department’s rivalry with Max and Horizon—’_  
  
“Peter!” Ms. Marconi motioned toward the front doors.  
  
“Be there in a second,” Peter followed after her, _‘and I wish that Ock didn’t agree to help out Ms. Marconi with so much stuff. She must have made a really good impression on him or something...’_  
  
“Hey!”  
  
Peter sighed at the rough voice. Probably Kenny Kong or Carl King; or was it Kenny King or Carl Kong. Either way, he knew it was one of those two preparing for “locker knocker” time.  
  
“Hey, D.W.!”  
  
_‘D.W.?’_ Peter turned around to see a notebook slide toward his feet. He picked up and only looked at the front of it. _‘Dominic Diego?’_  
  
Three guys walked past Peter. They looked familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he saw them last. Or why they didn’t bother to insult him like they did the student he walked too.  
  
“Hi there,” Peter watched as the student dusted himself off. The student looked at Peter, “I think this belongs to you.”  
  
“Thanks,” He took the notebook. Then he looked at Peter closely, “Hey, I know you!”  
  
“Yeah, it probably goes something like puny—”  
  
“You’re the guy from Horizon High that everyone’s been making a big deal of. Peter Parker right?”  
  
“Right,” Peter smiled as he shook the boy's hand.  
  
“And Liz Allan told me that you’re also a huge flake.”  
  
“That...is not entirely false.”  
  
The boy chuckled, “I mean stuff happens, right. And sometimes Liz can be a little hard on people.”  
  
“Your friends with Liz?”  
  
“And Randy Robertson,” the boy smiled, “I’m Dominic Washington.”  
  
“But your notebook says, Dominic Diego.”  
  
“You read my notebook?” He furrowed a brow.  
  
Peter waved his hand defensively, “No, no, I just looked at the name on the front cover.”  
  
“Oh, sorry,” Dominic eased up, “Diego is my middle name and my mother’s maiden name. Dominic Diego is my stage name and a tribute to her.”  
  
“Stage name?”  
  
“Yeah. I know it’s kind of dorky, but I write songs and perform them on Viewtube.”  
  
“What’s dorky about that?”  
  
“I mostly do cover songs.”  
  
“Like you cover some of Ross Caliban’s songs?”  
  
Dominic played with his hair, “Anime...video games…”  
  
“I still wouldn’t call that dorky,” Peter chuckled, “I think anyone would say my interest in science is dorky.”  
  
“Well right now three idiots think I’m the pinnacle of dorkiness, or they just love to pick on,” Dominic sighed.  
  
“I’ve been there before,” Peter placed a hand on Dominic’s shoulder, “and I’m still there, but one person who used to bully me since grade school became a better person. People can change.”  
  
Dominic sighed, “They say that just like they say everyone has a reason for doing something. Not trying to be negative here, but—”  
  
“Parker! Washington!”  
  
Ms. Marconi pointed toward the front doors, this time holding them open for the two students.  
  
“Next time I won’t be so kind and save two seats for you boys on the bus,” She said as they left the school.  
  


* * *

  
The bus ride to the Life Foundation gave Peter a chance to get to know Dominic. He and his father moved to New York sometime before Spider-Island occurred. His father was a college professor at Empire State University, teaching a class on human philosophy. He also would like for Dominic to attend Horizon High, and with Dominic’s grade, he had a chance of making it in. Dominic himself believes he wouldn’t fit in, for he doesn’t really know how to invent anything.  
  
Peter told him that’s how he felt when he was at school, but he made friends and found his place there. Then came the question as to why he left, which Peter, for once, just said money trouble instead of a complicated lie. He mentioned the Horizon’s open house to Dominic, even saying he didn’t mind helping him out. Dominic only gave him a maybe.  
  
The conversation ended on Dominic’s mother. She was a security guard for the Life Foundation branch in San Francisco. She died trying to help people evacuate the building when a crisis occurred. Dominic says that it was never reported what happened, and the Avengers and law enforcement had the building in San Francisco closed down. Many of the people that survived, including the people she didn’t know too well and helped to save, came to the funeral service.  
  
Peter was going to ask what the kanji on the first page of Dominic's notebook stood for, having been shown a few of the lyrics he wrote, but the three boys from before knocked the notebook out of Dominic’s hand once again for laughs.  
  
“I know where I’ve seen those guys before,” Peter said, “a friend of mine and I were at the beach during summer vacation, and they kicked sand in our faces.”  
  
“Wouldn’t surprise me that they did that,” Dominic began to introduce the three guys, “Trevor Cole, Billy Axelson, and Ramon Hernandez.”  
  
“And they’re high school students?” Peter asked.  
  
Dominic nodded as he rubbed the grass of a page, “They play football, so I guess that’s where the muscle mass comes from.”  
  
Peter noticed a sketch in one of the pages, “Spider-Girl?”  
  
“Huh?” Dominic looked at him.  
  
“I thought I saw a drawing of Spider-Girl. You know, one of Spider-Man’s teammates,” Peter never viewed his friends as sidekicks, and if he did, he'd never hear the end of it.  
  
“Oh...you did,” Dominic chuckled, “she’s my favorite superhero.”  
  
“Really? Most people aren’t aware of there being more than one spider-person...except for Spider-Gwen being around during Spider-Island.”  
  
“She was awesome too,” Dominic smiled, “it was cool having those powers, kind of like being in Spider-Man’s shows. The Bugle may spout loaded words about him, but some people know that Spider-Man is a hero.”  
  
Peter smiled.  
  
“And I’m going to sing a song about him when the Daily Bugles _Artist Assemble_ contest arrives!”  
  
“Artist Assemble?” Peter asked.  
  
“After the Avengers introduced those Guardians of the Galaxy to the world, the Bugle decided to hold a contest and a cash prize to the winner in different categories. Of course, I’m singing.”  
  
“So Spider-Girl is your favorite superhero, but you're singing a song about Spider-Man?”  
  
“I don’t know enough about Spider-Girl, except that she and the other two spiders took down Scorpion and that dude with the mustache royally.”  
  
“You don't know a lot about her, but she’s your favorite superhero?”  
  
“She wears black spandex that’s tight in all the right places, of course, she’s my favorite superhero,” Dominic laughed once Peter raised an eyebrow, “that’s not my reason...entirely. She just seems so...bold, courageous, and did you see the way she took down that fake Spider-Man?”  
  
“Sounds like someone has a crush on a superhero,” it was amusing and at the same time a surprise to Peter. The thought of someone having a crush on Anya. Not that there was anything wrong with Anya, _‘did I just think that?’_  
  
“Peter,” Dominic elbowed him as the security was trying to hand him a visitors pass.  
  
“Thank you…,” Peter said as he took the pass.  
  


* * *

  
The field trip was primarily going to take place in the Life Foundations lobby. The reason for this was to give the students more room to interact with certain pieces of technology and to keep any information on private projects from leaking to business rivals. Most likely the Foundation was taking into account that Horizon High may or may not show up.  
  
“Buddy system,” Peter looked down to see Ms. Marconi handing him a ticket with the number 15 on it, Dominic the same number. “The last two students on the bus, partners.”  
  
Dominic shrugged after she left, “Cool with me.”  
  
“Same here,” Peter said.  
  
Everything on display reminded Peter of the day of the Oscorp field trip, the day that gave him his powers. Every company has robots and mech suits, it’s like a constant at technology and research companies. He and Dominic checked out some of the displays. One had schematics of a futuristic house, medical drones that could potentially replace ambulances, and… a new smartphone. Peter was going to be brand loyal and stick with the Stark Phone.  
  
“Medical drones,” Dominic chuckled, “no thanks. If my dad and aunt can’t ride with me to the hospital or I can’t ride with them, no thanks.”  
  
“And package delivery drones are still a work in progress,” Peter added.  
  
“And ones that travel by foot, well wheel, what if someone just snatches the package you know?” Dominic looked toward his side to Peter gone. “Peter?”  
  
He saw Peter looking at a group of four jars filled with… something. It looked like colored water or jelly. Goo? It was something in the liquid category.  
  
“What is it? Protoplasm, cytoplasm; plasma?” Dominic ribbed.  
  
“Funny,” Peter remarked, “but I think this is something else.”  
  
“Okay, why the sudden change of tone?”  
  
“The substances in these charges,” Peter rubbed his chin, “maybe I’m just jumping to conclusions, but they remind me of a project my friends and I worked on at Horizon High.”  
  
Dominic picked up the jar two of the jars, “Really?” He sat one jar down and shook the one he was still holding lightly. He could some people entering the building is a reflection on the glass, “speaking of Horizon…”  
  
Peter looked toward the entrance and saw Max Modell. Then he looked for Miles, Gwen, and Anya. Then there was a scream coming from the camouflage equipment display.  
  
Dominic sighed when he saw the three familiar faces stepped off the platform, “ _They_ would abuse the tech here for a prank. And for Ramon, especially if it is a pretty face.”  
  
“But that pretty face doesn’t like to be trifled with,” Peter said as he went toward that direction with Dominic right behind him.  
  
Trevor, Billy, and Ramon passed by them, the latter bumping into Dominic with his shoulder. They didn’t keep Dominic’s attention for long, for that’s when the blonde girl from Horizon called Peter’s name.  
  
“Hey guys,” Peter said to his friends.  
  
“So what’s it like being back at Midtown after—”  
  
Peter cut off the boy, “Just trying to keep track of my responsibilities Miles. Apparently, I took on a lot.”  
  
“Why are you talking like that?” Miles asked until the brown haired-girl elbowed him. He finally noticed Dominic standing next to Peter.  
  
Dominic chuckled and raised his hands, “I understand, secret amongst friends. I’m just Peter’s parole officer.”  
  
“Dominic these are my friends from Horizon High: Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and Anya Corazon,” Peter introduced, “guys, this is Dominic Washington. We just met each other today and are partners on this field trip.”  
  
“And for reference, those three guys who were over here a few minutes do not represent all of Midtown High,” Dominic said as he started off shaking Miles's hand.  
  
“Don’t worry,” Anya said, “we don’t judge a group just because a few people treat technology as a toy.”  
  
“So what are you guys doing here?” Peter asked, “I thought Max and Horizon wouldn’t be here because of what Drake posted on his website.”  
  
“Horizon is still a school and Max and all of the teachers are still instructors,” Gwen said, “so a technicality was found. And Midtown?”  
  
“A month ago we were going to have a sponsorship deal with Alchemax,” Dominic said, “but after it was found out that the CEO Tiberius Stone experimented on people, and him and said people wrecked our auditorium, we needed to find a new sponsorship for our science classes.”  
  
“Ah, that’s how you and Peter hit it off,” Miles chuckled.  
  
Dominic fiddled with his hair, “Oh, no. I’m not into science. Honestly, I was asked to go on this field trip because of my grades. Give the Life Foundation an extra push to sponsor us and all that.”  
  
“Your science department needs equipment that bad?” asked Gwen.  
  
“Equipment… and interest,” Peter admitted. “A lot of people have been leaving Midtown High and other schools lately. That’s why I haven’t mentioned it to anyone, besides Dominic, that I’m trying to afford tuition to transfer back.”  
  
Dominic crossed his arms, “Yeah, Ms. Marconi wouldn’t be too excited to hear that, or any science teacher at Midtown really.”  
  
“And my transfer has been cited as proof that Horizon isn’t all that,” Peter sighed.  
  
“So Midtown’s using you as a poster boy?” Miles asked.  
  
“Nope, just to spread gossip about Horizon.”  
  
“Well, it’s a good thing Horizon doesn’t listen to any playground rumors.”  
  
Max Modell. He was huge, and Dominic didn’t want to admit it, but Mr. Weathers was right about the mustache and glasses making him look like a walrus. He covered his mouth with the side of his fist when thinking about it.  
  
“Great to see you feeling better Peter,” Max said. “If I would have known back then—”  
  
“It’s okay Max,” Peter smiled, “I’m just happy to have my life back on track.”  
  
“That’s good to hear, and speaking of getting things back on track—”  
  
This time Max was cut off by the sound of shattered glass, and the air in the room was getting harder to breathe. Peter and Miles felt their spider-senses going off like crazy.  
  
“I apologize for getting these students in the crossfire…”  
  
Peter knew that voice… and he could also smell the odor of dog fur.  
  
“..., but my Wild Pack and I are under contract to acquire a few things from this here research facility, by any means necessary.”  
  
“Silver Sable.”  
  
While everyone was focused on Sable and her Wild Pack, Peter ran off to get the help of an _amazing_ friend.


	2. A Friend in Scream

**Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Battlestar, Puma, Paladin, and Silver Sable. The last time Peter fought them they were trying to steal the neuro-cortex from Horizon High for Doc-Ock. From what Miles had told him Ock fought Sable another time while in his body, a day before Ock created the Superior Spider-Man costume. And from how angrily Sable was shooting at him it was obvious Ock ticked her off. The other members of the Wild Pack were seemingly left at the Super Villain Holding Facility, which makes Peter question why they are still working for Sable.  
  
“You three are really loyal to Sable after what she did to you—” Spider-Man dodged Puma as he took a swipe at him; Paladin and Battlestar as they shot at him, “—I mean she escaped the SVHF and left you guys there without any thought. I’m still a little new to working with a team, but I’m sure that’s not how it works.”  
  
“You still don’t understand the concept of mercenary,” Paladin moved in closer, “all we care about is if the job pays!”  
  
Battlestar jumped back towards Sable, bringing up a hard-light shield in front of them. He watched as Spider-Man fought Puma and Paladin, “I thought you said he’s changed?”  
  
“ _He_ did,” Sable continued knocking items into a bag, “Spider-Man was more brutal and acted less juvenile.” She looked around at Spider-Man, studying him just as Battlestar was, “I don’t know what he was trying to pull, but if he is truly back to his old ways then we know his tactics!”  
  
During the battle, the teachers and security were directing students out of the building. The crowd was huge, giving Miles, Gwen, and Anya enough cover to sneak away. Dominic didn’t notice them, but he did notice that Peter was missing. Partners on a field trip are responsible for each other, and that most likely includes supervillain attacks.  
  
“Peter?” Dominic called, trying to keep himself from being knocked around in the crowd.  
  
“If he was smart Washington than Parker is already outside!” Ms. Marconi ran past Dominic. “Now move!”  
  
He chased after the crowd, somehow falling to the very back. Just as Dominic got the door, however, it was closed on him. He banged on it and screamed for someone to open it.  
  
“What’s the magic words?” sang a familiar voice.  
  
Dominic bangs on the door faster, “Trevor, this isn’t funny! Open the door!” He heard Trevor, Ramon, and Billy laughing on the other side.  
  
“No can do D.W.,” Billy laughed.  
  
“You should be thanking us,” Ramon laughed, “you always wanted to meet Spider-Man.”  
  
That was true, but Dominic would rather meet him in better circumstances. Not when lasers were being shot around and puma men were on the prowl. After the three didn’t respond anymore he gave up on the door. He looked at the windows and they were too far for him to reach.  
  
 _‘Great.’_ He ducked behind a table for cover. _‘I’ll just stay out of the way and—’_  
  
The other Spider-Man, Ghost-Spider, and...Spider-Girl entered the room.  
  
Dominic took out his phone. _‘—have a memory of this day.’_  
  
Despite the second Spider-Man has been around for almost as long as the original, many people were still oblivious to the fact that there is more than one person with spider powers in New York. Sure people remember Spider-Gwen, who Ghost-Spider happens to dress similarly too, but Spider-Gwen died out when Spider-Island was cured. And despite the second Spider-Man, Spider-Girl, and another person, who was most likely Ghost-Spider, were seen fighting Scorpion and Tinkerer on live television, many, including J. Jonah Jameson, look over them for the original Spider-Man.  
  
Dominic facepalmed when he realized that one of Peter’s friends was formerly Spider-Gwen. He still wouldn’t have asked her for an autograph right that moment though.  
  
 _‘Wait, what am I doing!’_ Dominic shook his head, placing his phone back into his pocket. _‘I could do something to help, but what?’_ He looked around and noticed a folded chair on the floor. Then he heard the Puma howl as the second _Spider-Man_ used that electric attack of his on that metal claw arm.  
  
“Bet that came as a shock to you!” _Spider-Man_ kicked Puma back and webbed him to the ground. He was about to make another joke until he saw Dominic. He was making way toward him until Puma broke out of the webbing and tackled him.  
  
Dominic knew he was a liability, but the Wild Pack hasn’t noticed him yet. He knows that when Spider-Man, Spider-Girl, and Ghost-Spider notices him that they’ll try to get him out, and the Wild Pack will use him as a hostage. Dominic held the folded chair and took a deep breath.  
  
Ghost-Spider dodged as Paladin tried to shoot her. Unlike Spider-Man, she was moving more gracefully, almost like a ballerina. It infuriated Paladin. He was only expecting to fight one Spider-Man, not a cluster of them.  
  
“Spider-Men, Spider-Women,” Paladin groaned as Ghost-Spider managed to kick him back, “you must really love your boyfriend to wear pajamas worse than his.”  
  
“Worst?” Ghost-Spider was hurt by that. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”  
  
“So he won’t care if I—” Paladin pursed his lips and stood up straight. It felt like something knocked him on the head. He turned around to see Dominic with the chair in his hand.  
  
“Uh...hi….,” Dominic grinned and backed away slowly.  
  
Paladin grabbed Dominic by his shirt color, “Kid, I know you didn’t just do that...”  
  
Paladin turned around and showed Dominic to Ghost-Spider. She raised her hands, showing that she wasn’t going to do anything.  
  
“That’s right,” Paladin smirked, “you won’t do anything when innocent people are involved. Sable, I—”  
  
That time Battlestar was knocked into Paladin. When the bald man landed on him Ghost-Spider tied both of them up in her webbing. She looked back at Dominic to see that Spider-Girl had him and was holding onto the bag that Sable was trying to get away with. She looked to Miles to see that he was panting over an unconscious Puma.  
  
As for Spider-Man and Silver Sable, the latter finally realized that while her adversary was missing a team member, she was missing all three of hers.  
  
“So Sable,” Spider-Man crossed his arms as Miles and Ghost-Spider moved toward them, “you wanna try and take on all three of us, or are you smart enough to know when you’ve been beaten?”  
  
Sable dropped her weapons and sighed, “I....yield.”  
  


* * *

  
The police arrived to arrest the Wild Pack. Instead of heading to the Super Villain Holding Facility, they were on a one-way trip to The Cellar. The former prison built by Augustus Roman to siphon the powers of supervillains is now managed by his former assistant Shannon Stillwell. It was what Chief Watanabe wanted to do to apologize for the false arrest.  
  
Peter, Miles, Gwen, and Anya were walking into a false accusation right this moment. Dominic was being yelled at by two scientists and that Trevor boy while Max and Ms. Marconi stood by.  
  
“I’m telling you the truth!” Dominic yelled. “Spider-Girl handed me the bag to give to you guys when she got me out through the window.”  
  
He pointed at Trevor, “And this jerk and his buddies locked the door on me!”  
  
Trevor scoffed, “That’s a lie.”  
  
“You laughed at me when I banged on the door?” Dominic pointed at Trevor.  
  
“Is this true Trevor?” Ms. Marconi asked.  
  
“No, and unlike Washington here I have proof,” He turned around and called Ramon and Billy, “Ramon, Billy; did I close the door on Washington?”  
  
“Nope!” both boys yelled.  
  
Trevor turned back around and smirk, “Where’s your proof Washington?”  
  
Dominic didn’t say anything.  
  
“That’s what I thought.”  
  
“But this still doesn’t mean Dominic attempted to steal anything,” Ms. Marconi stated. “He’s one of our best and honest—”  
  
“Best and honest?” one of the scientists held out a jar. “Where is it?”  
  
“Where is what?” Dominic asked.  
  
“The contents of this jar!” the scientist waved it in his face.  
  
Peter moved closer to get a good look at the jar, and it wasn’t the same one as the others he and Dominic saw earlier. He wasn’t sure what those substances were, but this gave him comfort. Until he realized Dominic was still being accused of something he didn’t commit. The same thing happened to his friend Harry last year. Maybe he could make a difference this time.  
  
“I—” Peter was caught off guard by how fast all eyes were on him, “I know Dominic did not; would not steal anything. I’ve only known him for a short time, but in that time I can tell you he isn’t a thief. Maybe whatever was in those jars spilled over when Spider-Man and friends were fighting the Wild Pack.”  
  
“Then why is the top still on it?” asked the scientist.  
  
“I think the question is how long has there been a crack in the glass?” Anya smirked and pointed at the jar’s fragile spot.  
  
The scientists looked at the jar, noticing the crack.  
  
“Oh,” one of them said.  
  
Both of them walked away without even giving Dominic an apology. He didn’t let it get to him since he was expecting they wouldn’t apologize from how their snobbish tones. Trevor walked away as well to join up with Ramon and Billy.  
  
Ms. Marconi looked at him, “Next time Dominic, evacuate with everyone else.”  
  
Then she turned to Peter, “And Peter, don’t leave your classmates behind to hang out with old friends..”  
  
“I—” she left before Peter could get a word out, “—right.”  
  
He turned to Dominic, “Dominic I’m sorry that—”  
  
“No, it’s okay,” Dominic smiled, “the crowd was huge and I could barely keep myself from being pushed around. I just wasn’t expecting all of this.”  
  
Max placed a hand on his shoulder, “Yelling aside, you handle the situation maturely young man.”  
  
“Thanks, Mr. Modell,” Dominic said. He looked toward the school buses, “that’s our ride, Peter.”  
  
Dominic smiled at the Horizon gang, “it was nice meeting you guys.”  
  
“Yeah, it was nice seeing you guys again,” Peter said, “I know we still see each at Cup O’ Joe’s occasionally, but it feels different being at a different school ya know.”  
  
“My offer still stands Peter,” Max said, “after everything you’ve probably been through—.”  
  
“And I rather get back into Horizon through my own work,” Peter kindly turned down the offer.  
  
Max chuckled, “Well then, they’ll be a lab waiting for you when transfer.”  
  
Peter smiled. Then he realized his ride was leaving him behind. After another goodbye, he ran off for the Midtown High school bus.  
  


* * *

  
Back at Midtown, Dominic showed Peter a recording of the fight at the Life Foundation. The footage showed Sable looting some things, but the jars were still on that table. That is to say, until the table fell over. At that point in the video, Sable stopped looting and started shooting. At least this is proof that Dominic isn’t a thief.  
  
“And that wasn’t even the best part,” Dominic felt his face heat up as he showed Peter a picture on his phone, “superhero selfie.”  
  
“Spider-Girl took a selfie with you?” Peter was surprised, and wondering when Anya did this.  
  
“It was after she got me outside. I mustered up the courage to whack that Paladin guy, but asking Spider-Girl for the selfie was so nerve-wracking. You don’t think she’d mind if I post this on my page do you?”  
  
 _‘Why not? Anya, Gwen, and Miles deserve their fans,`_ Peter smiled, “I’d say go for it.”  
  
“And hey,” Dominic smiled, “I meant what I said about hanging out sometime. Your friends might be at Horizon, but now you have a friend from Midtown High. And thanks for vouching for me.”  
  
“No problem, and I have friends from Midtown.”  
  
“Of course,” Dominic smiled.  
  
“Besides _you_ ,” Peter said. “I’ll catch you later.”  
  
“Later,” Dominic said.  
  


* * *

  
That one area at the Life Foundation was a mess.  
  
The scientists and other workers were getting the place organized, for they could already hear the footsteps of their boss and his bodyguard as they entered the building. They were all nervous, and it wasn’t the bodyguard that made them nervous. Despite being less muscular than him, scrawny even, the Life Foundation employees were nervous about their employer…  
  
...Carlton Drake.  
  
A philanthropist similar to that of Tony Stark, except Drake, claims that unlike Stark he isn’t a narcissist. That when the Life Foundation accomplishes its goal the world will be a better, fairer, and more balanced place to live in. Drake says that the first step in the Foundation's goals is to evolve. And he and his men had the resources to help make the world evolve. Resources that would make the Avengers and SHIELD shut down his entire operation.  
  
That is why it was a disappointment for Drake that what occurred today was not in his favor. However, Drake did not view this as a negative, for it was something he had no control over.  
  
“Isn’t it funny Treece?” Drake chuckled to himself as the two stared at the fours jars from earlier in the day. “To think that Horizon High used one of these creatures as a science fair project for teenagers, to think that fool Max Modell wanted to use it as a new element on the periodic table and to think that Spider-Man used it as a make-shift costume. If it wasn’t for Stark, that symbiote would have taken over Spider-Man completed and turned him into its vessel.”  
  
“I’d say it’s a bit unbelievable boss,” Treece admitted, “I understand stem schools, but a high school that lets students create robots and experiment on aliens.”  
  
“That wasn’t quite my point,” Drake admitted, “what I find unbelievable is that a high school was able to boost the powers of a symbiote thanks to all of the experiments they conducted on it, and they probably don’t remember the exact procedures. It's thanks to that meteor and the symbiotes that were inside of it that we can continue to do research on the creatures. Especially with the Space Administration refusing my offer to take that Edward Brock fellow and the V-252 off their hands. According to an acquaintance, they’ll be potential allies in the future. For now, I want to focus on Spider-Man, since he was the first one to show what a symbiote could do when bonded to a mutate.”  
  
“What about the symbiote that got away?” Treece asked.  
  
“We’ll find it,” Drake answered, “or better yet it’ll find us another guinea pig to experiment on.”  
  
Drake looked at his cellphone, seeing a call from his son, “Family matters Treece. Why not have a good time before heading home for the evening. I’m not pleased with the person I left in charge of this little event. Why not show them your former profession before working under my employ."  
  
Treece smirked and popped his knuckles, “Your too kind boss.”  
  
That is another thing about Carlton Drake, it is not wise to get on his bad side, to steal from him, or (attempt) to play him for a fool.  
  
A thought came to Drake, _‘I could use a little amusement myself. The prototype PHANTOMS needs a field test, and seeing if it can track a symbiote would be a perfect opportunity to test its capabilities.’_  
  
Drake dialed a number on his phone, “Doctor Skirth, I want a working Phantom ready for a test run as soon as possible. And don't give me any excuses as to why it won't be ready. Just have it completed when I request it.”  
  


* * *

  
“The likes on this picture are more than I get when I upload music. And I never had this many comments before,” Dominic smiled as he walked into his house. He winced at a comment and shook his head, “those three idiots are jailbait. Could have sworn I blocked them.”  
  
Before heading to his room, Dominic noticed a note on the refrigerator door from his dad.  
  
 _Subbing for another teacher who was found unqualified, *sighs*.  
  
Love, Dad_  
  
“I bet that early college high school is going to cost New York lots of money,” Dominic said as he tossed the note in the garbage, “you’d think ESU would make sure their employees are professionals.”  
  
After getting to his room Dominic immediately tossed his backpack to the floor, jacket on his computer chair, and flopped onto his bed. He turned over on his stomach, propped on his headphones, and began drafting song lyrics. He thought seeing Spider-Man and his friends in action up close would give him inspiration, but he was facing somewhat of a writer’s block.  
  
He turned to a photo of his parents and himself with his first guitar. His mother would always say that there are many great songs out there, but the best songs come from the heart. Dominic understood what his mother meant by that, but he didn’t understand how to make that work right now.  
  
 _‘Maybe if I take a nap I’ll dream of some lyrics.’_  
  
In other words, Dominic thought he was tired and some rest would help think of something. He closed his eyes, letting the music he was listening to take him away. Of course, he always set a timer not to damage his eardrums. His father would joke that as much as he listens to music his ears have gotten used to loud noise.  
  
Even the loudest scream wouldn’t bother him.  
  
Or the sound of his chair rolling across the floor...  
  


* * *

  
The talent show from middle school, back in California.  
  
Dominic remembered this moment. He remembered watching videos of indie musicians cover songs from anime and that he wanted to do that too. He practiced and rehearsed in front of his parents until he could sing without looking at the lyrics. When peers at school asked what song he would sing, they laughed at him. The night came fast and so did the feeling of fear and anxiety.  
  
When it was his time on stage, he didn’t want to perform. He couldn’t perform. Not while knowing everyone in the audience would laugh at him. It was a talk with his mother that gave him the courage to sing.  
  
She said, “Every song has a story, and that no matter how people interpret it, the voice it comes from knows the true meaning.”  
  
That is when Dominic knew he wanted to sing, and that is why he decided his stage name would be Dominic Diego; as a tribute to his mother. He hated what happened to her, but he didn’t let it bring himself down. She and his father always said that life has unexpected twists and turns. Instead of dwelling on the past, try and make a well future.  
  
Dominic hoped that his mother was proud of him wherever she was…  
  
“Love...family…”  
  


* * *

  
“Huh?” Dominic woke up, but he noticed something was different about his room.  
  
There was no room.  
  
He was hanging upside down on the side of a building in a yellow and orange costume. From a web, just like Spider-Man. His joints wouldn’t move, except for his: eyes, neck, and head.  
  
“This—this must be a dream? Yeah, that explains why I can’t move my body. It’s like those dreams where you’re lying in bed, you can’t move, and then some creepy guy stands over you. I’ll wake up any second now.”  
  
 _‘This isn’t a dream….’_  
  
“And now the voices in my head are talking to me.”  
  
 _‘I am not in your head, I am on you…’_  
  
“And now I am arguing with the voices—”  
  
The “voice” in Dominic’s head suddenly sprouted from his shoulder and was staring back at him.  
  
 _‘Hello?’_  
  
Dominic screamed and fell off of his webbing. His body was just flailing around as it rushed toward the ground. Then he felt his arm move, but it was not him who moved it. He shot a web-line from his wrist and it connected to a gargoyle on the side of a building. Then the ledge of another building. And another, and another—  
  
Just like Spider-Man.  
  
“What’s going on, who are you, and why did you just grow from my shoulder?!” Dominic asked the creature, “and why do you look familiar?”  
  
 _‘Would you like for me to stop, so I can answer questions, or would you like to return home first?’_  
  
Dominic was about to ask for the time but realized his father could be on his way for all he knew. This creature didn’t wait for an answer and increased speed toward Dominic’s house.  
  


* * *

  
There was no car in the driveway.  
  
The creature swung Dominic into his window, that was left opened, and landed him on his bed.  
  
Once again, the creature acted before allowing Dominic a chance to speak. It jumped off him and plotted down in front of him. He was almost taken back by it at first but found it’s form interesting. It looked like lasagna-colored jello. He poked the creature and its eyes formed an u-shape.  
  
“Wow, I was expecting some hideous monster,” Dominic smiled, “but you're actually kind of cute. What are you?”  
  
 _‘I am the SC-4, a klyntar.’_  
  
“Klyntar?” Dominic was thinking about Captain Marvel—  
  
 _‘Not Kree, KLYNTAR,’_ the SC-4 corrected.  
  
“Are you reading my mind?”  
  
 _‘Because we bonded.’_  
  
“Bonded?”  
  
 _‘Yes. The formal name for my species is Klyntar, but on Earth and many other worlds my kind is referred to as symbiotes because of our ability to bond to other beings and use them as hosts.’_  
  
“So you’re a parasite?”  
  
 _‘...That’s what our species has also been called, and what they have expected to become. Something doesn’t feel right about that. I feel like I don’t want to be a parasite. I want to be—’_  
  
The SC-4 pointed to a poster on the wall, _‘—like that.’_  
  
“Like Spider-Man?” Dominic asked.  
  
 _‘Yes, like a hero.’_  
  
“But can’t you find him on your own? You did a pretty good job of swinging through the city like him.”  
  
The SC-4 closed its eyes, _‘He...doesn’t trust my kind. There was a klyntar called Venom who tried to possess Spider-Man. He did things to hurt Spider-Man, kidnapped his loved ones because they experimented on him and called him the V-252. They didn’t know Venom was a living being. He was unable to communicate with them when he was given to Horizon High. The Space Foundation experimented on him and he was able to communicate with its host.”_  
  
“I...remember a Venom,” Dominic grabbed his laptop and pulled up to different tabs, “a football player from my school, Flash Thompson, became that thing, and a few months ago so did some Eddie Brock guy.”  
  
 _‘Yes, that is Venom.’_  
  
“But you don’t look like that.”  
  
 _‘Klyntar can change their form and shape. Venom's appearance is his preference.’_  
  
Dominic smiled, “and your preference is to be an adorable pile of squishy goo?”  
  
 _‘Would you have trusted me if I had fangs and a long tongue?’_  
  
“Point taken, but who's to stay I trust you now? After all, you are a monster.”  
  
 _‘Would you allow a monster to sit in close proximity to you?’_  
  
Dominic chuckled, “Another point taken. So are you asking me to help you?”  
  
 _‘Yes. I would like to learn to be a hero, but maybe I can learn something from you too? I’ve been around humans, but they all act the same. Either where lab coats or look sick. Many of my kind were forced to bond to the sickly ones and both… didn’t survive. Either the humans did not have enough nutrients in their bodies or the symbiotes were too young to support any failing organs.’_  
  
“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that.”  
  
 _‘I’m sorry...about your mother.’_  
  
Dominic winced, “I never mentioned—”  
  
 _‘I...may have forced that dream on you to learn about you...sorry.’_  
  
Dominic petted the SC-4 on the head, “No, no; it reminds me of why I want to pursue music. Do you like music?”  
  
 _‘I...my kind aren’t exactly known for any culture or arts. And loud noises hurt us. Unless we’ve been experimented on, even the lowest of frequency can sound like a high-pitched scream to a klyntar.’_  
  
“Then let’s start out with an instrumental, a soft melody.”  
  
Dominic pulled out a Walkman. Not one of the old ones that played cassette tapes. It was a model made to combat the Stark Phone and other touch screen devices  
  
“I like to go dumpster diving for old music players. You’d be surprised how many people throw away iPods and Walkmen for the newest Stark Phone.”  
  
 _‘You have so many.’_  
  
“Some people collect basketball cards, I collect old MP3 players, mod them, and fill them with songs. Go ahead, pick one.”  
  
The SC-4 chose the walkman with the picture of a distorted human with their hands on the side of their face.  
  
“You get to keep that one, Scream.”  
  
 _‘Scream?’_  
  
“That’s the name of the painting on the walkman you choose,” Dominic smiled, “and SC-4 isn’t a real name. Unless you rather—”  
  
 _“I like Scream. Thank you, Dominic!”_  
  
Scream crawled toward Dominic and rested in his lap. She made a purring sound similar to a cat. Looking back at his laptop, Dominic couldn’t understand how this creature was the same species as the one that attacked Midtown High.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 finished. In the original version of the story, I had Kraven the Hunter, Vladmir, and Alyosha fight Peter, Miles, and Anya in the Life Foundation, but I changed it to the Wild Pack because it made more sense in context. I have plans on using them again later on.
> 
> Carlton Drake, I'm basing him on his portrayal in the Venom film, which is where part of the inspiration from this story comes from. I've read the few comics he was featured in, but I believed he was fleshed out more in the movie and that's the version I'm going with. Like Norman Osborn and Raymond Warren, he looks like an ordinary businessman/scientist on the outside, but on the inside, he's just another man with a lust for power. Though he'll have something Osborn and Warren never had in the long run.
> 
> The Scream symbiote, aside from the current Andi Benton Scream series, this a complete turn around of how the Scream symbiote is usually portrayed. The main reason I chose Scream is because of her name, her powers in the Avengers Alliance game, and how symbiotes can send a telekinetic cry. All of this will be important later on. Before Scream I did play with the idea of Agony or Scorn being Dominic's symbiotes.
> 
> Dominic's crush on Spider-Girl. I know, it screams Mary-Sue, Gary-Stu, or whatever you want to call it, but it's going to lead somewhere.
> 
> I was hoping to get more chapters out before April, which is when Spider-Man: Maximum Venom debuts. My job in package handling leaves me sore and the only time I have to write is on the weekends when I'm exhausted. I'm not going to let the show airing stop me from continuing the Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes. I've seen a lot of fanfic writers drop fics because the show does a similar concept, but nine times out of ten concepts will be similar, not the execution.
> 
> The next chapter will have Spider-Boy and Scream even out a fight between the Spiders and a "Wake".


	3. Along Came A Spider

**Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes**

**  
Chapter 3**

* * *

Dominic looked at his phone as he rode the bus traveling Dikito Boulevard in Manhattan. A lot of superheroes have social media profiles, but none of the spiders had one.  
  
 _‘There are a lot of superheroes in the world,’_ Scream noted after Dominic closed his Tweeter app. _‘Do they all reside in New York?’_  
  
“Not really. The Avengers used to stay in Manhattan at Avengers Tower, but they moved to the west coast after Tony Stark turned one of his labs into the Avengers Compound. I think Ms. Marvel lives in Jersey.”  
  
 _‘And they just leave all of these villains for Spider-Man to fight?’_  
  
“Well, The Avengers can’t be everywhere when some villain decides to commit a crime,” Dominic pulled up one of the Avengers’ battles on his phone, “and Spider-Man can’t be at every fight against a frost giant. They trust Spider-Man to protect New York while they’re busy on the West Coast.”  
  
 _‘Of New York?’_  
  
Dominic chuckled, “Los Angeles California. When I was living in San Francisco I wanted to visit their headquarters so badly, but they don’t allow tours of the Compound to the public.”  
  
“Kid, who are you talking too?”  
  
Dominic looked up from his phone to see everyone staring at him. He was lost for words until one of his earphones fell into his lap, “Wireless earphones. If you have them plugged in you can listen to the person on the line like music.”  
  
Everyone was still looking at him.  
  
“I’ll call you back,” Dominic shoved his phone into his pocket.  
  
The bus came to a stop and he got off without even looking at the address. Cup O’ Joes was across the street so at least he knew he wasn’t lost. This area is usually where Spider-Man can be found swinging through the city, judging by photos.  
  
 _‘So what do we do now?’_ Scream asked.  
  
“Grab a smoothie and wait for something to happen,” Dominic said as he pressed the button to change the crosswalk light. “And for you my friend, some more cho—”  
  
 _‘Dominic Don’t Move!’_  
  
Dominic fell back as the limo in front of him skidded to a stop. That was too close. The light was red, so why did the driver wait till the last minute to hit the brakes?  
  
“Terribly sorry about that young man,” came a voice from the backseat. “I’m in a rush to get to my company and my son to football practice.”  
  
Dominic got up and dusted himself off. He looked into the car, past the man who apologized to see a face he never wanted to see during the weekend.  
  
“Washington…,” Trevor scoffed.  
  
“Tre- Trevor!” Dominic looked at the man, “and y-your Carlton Drake.”  
  
Carlton smiled, “Indeed I am, and it appears that you are a friend of my son Trevor.”  
  
Trevor scoffed again, “Friend, that’s a good one dad.”  
  
“Oh, just a fellow classmate.”  
  
“Yeah...we’re classmates,” Dominic wasn’t trying to sound rude, at least not to Mr. Drake. This was just an annoyance for a Saturday morning. “Um, the light’s green sir, and I kind of—”  
  
“Say no more,” Carlton pressed a button on the side of his door. “Treece, we’re finished here.”  
  
The window reclined and the limousine sped off.  
  


* * *

  
“He appeared to be a nice young man Trevor,” Drake typed away on his laptop as his son looked out the window of their ride, “it wouldn’t hurt to expand your circle of friends.”  
  
“Friends with Washington?” Trevor chuckled, “he’s too much of a dork to hang out with my friends. All he does is talk about music this and music that. How music can make people happy.”  
  
This time Drake chuckled, “sounds like someone who used to work for one of my former facilities. What was that boy’s first name?”  
  
“Dominic.”  
  
“Dominic, Dominic…” Drake stopped typing. He swore that name was familiar, and so was Washington.  
  
“Oh, and he was accused by your workers of stealing one of those blob things on the field trip,” Trevor added. “He’s no science geek, but he was left in that room when Spider-Man fought that lady and those guys.”  
  
Drake raised an eyebrow, “Was he now?”  
  
“Yeah, but they found nothing on him. It would have been funny to see what you would have done since nobody “dares to trifle with us, Drakes”.”  
  
The limo came to a stop.  
  
“I’ll see you later son,” Drake smiled, “and tell your team that I can’t wait to see them win their next game. Who are they playing?”  
  
“Believe or not Horizon High has a football team,” Trevor laughed, “what would those geeks know about sports.”  
  
“Never underestimate anyone son,” Drake preached, “many men have met their downfalls that way, and us Drakes never fall.”  
  
“You got that right dad.”  
  
Drake smiled and closed the door. After the limo was gone he put on his sunglasses and lit his cigar. He enjoyed a good Cuban cigar and loved showboating it around for how expensive it is to get them.  
  
Drake exhaled a puff of smoke, _‘Okay Mr. Washington, time to see if anything followed you home from school the previous day.’_  
  


* * *

  
Cup O’ Joes is the place all teenagers hang out and grab a bite to eat. It helped that the owner, Joe, was a nice guy and took the time to know his customers and their usual orders. The .only thing he asks of is for no one to work on any science experiments after the time Blizzard turned Cup O’ Joes into Cup O’ Snow.  
  
“Liz and Randy not joining you today?” Joe brought Dominic three smoothies: one strawberry banana and two creamy chocolate smoothies.  
  
“Nope, it’s just me Joe,” Dominic noticed him eyeing the other two smoothies, “they say a sugar rush can give the brain a creative spark.”  
  
“Right,” Joe looked at the smoothies again, “but I wouldn’t prefer to mix up a strawberry banana with two creamy chocolates if you catch my drift, phew.”  
  
“Noted,” Dominic pointed a finger gun at him.  
  
When Joe went left him alone Dominic looked around and made sure everyone else was preoccupied with their own things before letting Scream drink one of the chocolate smoothies.  
  
She burped. Loudly.  
  
Everyone turned to Dominic’s table in the corner and he smiled nervously.  
  
“Excuse me…,” He said.  
  
“Told you, never mix those kinds of smoothies,” Joe said as he took a customer’s order.  
  
Everyone else went back to their own business.  
  
Scream looked up at Dominic apologetically. He smiled and wiped the chocolate from her mouth.  
  
“Well, you just learned something else about being human; bodily gases.”  
  
Scream crawled onto Dominic and quickly formed a jacket to see what he was doing. He had his laptop opened to a picture of a school. The same school she remembered seeing him and his father discuss when she saw his memories.  
  
 _‘Are you going to that school?’_  
  
“I’m not sure. Horizon’s a school for geniuses and I’m no genius.”  
  
 _‘But you make excellent grades.’_  
  
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can make half of the things the students at that school are capable of making. Like it rivals things you would see at Stark Industries, Alchemax, Roxxon, Oscorp—”  
  
 _‘But you have ideas.’_  
  
“And they’re just ideas.”  
  
 _‘But you would learn to turn those ideas into something real.’_  
  
“You’re beginning to sound like my dad…”  
  
 _‘He...believes in you?’_  
  
“Of course.”  
  
 _‘I believe in you too.’_  
  
“And thanks for that Scream,” Dominic hugged her, “but I just don’t know. And my heart lies with music.”  
  
 _‘But can you not do both? Be a musician and a scientist?’_  
  
“I could, but—” Dominic moaned, “you really got to be kidding me right now.”  
  
 _‘...I’m sorry.’_  
  
“No, not you Scream,” Dominic said as he packed up his stuff quickly, “remember that Trevor guy from a few a while ago.”  
  
 _‘Yes.’_  
  
“Two of his pals just walked in here.”  
  
 _‘Are they criminals?’_  
  
“No, just jerks. And if I don’t hurry up—”  
  
“D.W.!”  
  
Dominic sighed, _‘That may happen…’_  
  
Ramon Hernandez and Billy Axelson plopped down on both sides of Dominic. When Dominic imagined two people being this close to him, it was a dream of him becoming a rock star… and they weren’t two guys with football uniforms.  
  
“Now why are you sitting all by yourself at a table like this?” Billy asked.  
  
“Expecting Robertson and pretty Lizzy to show up?” Ramon asked.  
  
Dominic hated when he called Liz that name, since it _really_ annoys her, “I’m by myself today. And I’m doing something important if you don’t mind.”  
  
Billy stopped Dominic from closing the laptop, “Horizon High? You’re trying to apply to that nerd school!”  
  
“As if he’d get in,” Ramon laughed, “you’re a nerd D.W., but you’re not smart enough to hang with those geeks.”  
  
“Okay, just because they like to invent things doesn’t make them nerds or geeks...unless they are cool with calling themselves that,” Dominic stated, “and two, I can get into Horizon if **I** wanted too.”  
  
“Yeah right,” Billy slapped the table, gaining the attention of those around them, “you’re not a genius Washington.”  
  
“No one is born a genius,” Dominic argued, “they learn things and keep that knowledge with them. Well, some people do at least…”  
  
Ramon eyed Billy and looked back at Dominic, “then prove how smart you are D.W. Unless you’re scared to do anything else besides strum a few strings.”  
  
“You know what?!” Dominic’s laptop auto-filled the information needed to send a request for enrollment to Horizon High. “I’m going to build an invention so amazing epic that Max Modell will give me a spot at Horizon on the spot! Just you wait!”  
  
Dominic walked out of Joe’s with his laptop, and two remaining smoothies, in hand. Everyone else turned back to Ramon and Billy, including Joe.  
  
“Ahem,” Joe coughed to get the two’s attention, “are you two satisfied?”  
  
“Yes, yes we are,” Billy smiled.  
  
And with that Joe kicked both boys out of his restaurant.  
  
“Why can’t they just make a place where you don’t have to buy something just to sit down?” Billy asked.  
  
“Hold that thought man,” Ramon pointed across the street, “Washington dead ahead.”  
  
The two saw Dominic run into an alley. When the crosswalk gave the okay, the two ran across the street and turned into the alley. They looked around but found no sign of Dominic. Just a fence, a dumpster, and a cat chewing on a bone.  
  
“There’s no way he jumped that, or the fire escape,” Billy said as he looked around. “We can’t jump that.”  
  
“Jump no,” Ramon found a backpack from behind the dumpster. “ _Jack_ yes.”  
  


* * *

  
Spider-Man was happy to have friends that had his back. Especially when a person like Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture, somehow became the leader of teenage extreme sports athletes who were actually super villains under the public's eyes. Ironically the groups now second-in-command Barkley Blitz was a no show. Not that Spider-Man wanted to hear any of Blitz’s second-grade insults, which actually hurt more than five sonic scream attacks at once.  
  
“Color me surprised Spider-Man,” Vulture swooped down and grabbed the wall-crawler by his collar, “I’ve heard that you’ve become more ruthless in the past month. You took down three gangs and almost rid New York of any major criminal activity. All I see now is the same bug boy who can’t win a fight without a little help from others.”  
  
“Says the villain who I defeated on my own many times, including the first time we fought,” Spider-Man shot a web-line at a wall and got Vulture to release his grip. “And stealing all of this vibranium from the Wakandan Embassy? Don’t you remember when Black Panther and I handed you over to Iron Man?”  
  
“I do,” Vulture clenched his fist, “and once I’m finished with you and your friends I’m going after Stark, Klaue, and the former King of Wakanda.”  
  
Ghost-Spider as one of the Wake Riders shot sharp projectiles at her from their wings.  
  
“I can’t believe I followed you guys on social media,” She webbed one on the projectiles and tossed it back, “consider this my unfollow.”  
  
Ghost-Spider missed her Wake Rider, but she did get one of them off of Spider-Girl’s back.  
  
Vulture pressed a button on his helmet, “Blitz, did you retrieve that piece of Vibranium at Horizon? Blitz!”  
  
Vulture felt something on his back and then a jolt throughout his suit. He only laughed and slammed his back against the ceiling.  
  
“Nice try Spider-Man number two,” He said as Miles fell to the floor, “but I made a few modifications to the suit given to me by my Wake Riders. No more than a little lightning blast of yours.”  
  
“Well, that’s not my only trick…” Miles turned invisible and immediately jumped away from Vulture’s sonic scream.  
  
“I haven’t forgotten about your unique abilities,” Vulture said as he tapped his vizor, “to think that the Jackal was able to give one of his experimental spiders bio-electrokinesis and optical camouflage. If there’s one good thing Norman Osborn did for the world is getting rid of those arachnids.”  
  
“Sure, like an army of vultures is paradise,” Spider-Girl shot an impact web at the Wake Rider trailing her and clogged up their sonic scream device. She shot a web-line at them, pulled them toward herself, and kicked them into a pillar.  
  
Vulture tried to reach Barkley Blitz again, “Your Wake Riders are losing Blitz. If you took that piece of vibranium from Horizon High and ran off so help me—”  
  
Suddenly, a Wake Rider came crashing through a closed window and he was caught in a struggle with someone else. The two thrashed around until they crashed into Vulture and the Wake Rider let go of vibranium.  
  
“Blitz!?” Vulture said as the Wake Rider’s mask fell off. “What took you so long and where is the vibranium?”  
  
“I had it…” Blitz glared at the person who hitched a ride with him, “and that _spider_ took it from me.”  
  
“Spider?” Vulture said.  
  
“Spider?” Spider-Man said.  
  
“Uh...Spider- _Boy_ actually,” Spider-Boy said, waving nervously to all the eyes on him.  
  


* * *

  
Carlton Drake leaned over the desk as his security guards replayed the surveillance footage for him. He sighed. The only thing caught on camera were four spiders jumping around and thrashing about with four mercenaries from Symkaria. And all he of Mr. Washington was that Spider-Woman or girl getting him out of the room through a window. The brief shots of the symbiotes showed them all still in their containment jars.  
  
It frustrated that those symbiotes never managed to latch onto the spiders during their bout with the Wild Pack, and yet one of them somehow escaped.  
  
“Rewind to four minutes exactly and zoom in toward that spot,” Drake smiled as the image enlarged on a blob near Spider-Girl and Dominic’s foot. “So one of those two are the hosts of one of my symbiotes. A superhero or a civilian; a mutate or a human. Washington…”  
  
Thinking about Dominic’s facial features, his eyes and hair brought back a memory to Drake. He knew why that boy looked familiar to him.  
  
“Send a copy of this to the main Foundation,” Drake said as he headed for the doors.  
  


* * *

  
“Maybe I underestimated you Spider-Man,” Vulture said as he looked at Spider-Boy. “Having one of your sidekicks distract one of my Wake Riders is clever, even for you.”  
  
“Wait, the Wake Riders?” Spider-Boy looked at the other four people in flight suits. “Like the real Wake Riders? You guys are super villains?”  
  
“Trust me, they’re villains but nothing is super about them,” Spider-Man.  
  
“You guys are social media stars, influencers; heroes!” Spider-Boy stated.  
  
“Well, it’s like they say, kid, never meet your heroes!” Barkley Blitz flew toward him and Spider-Man, doing a spiral twist.  
  
The two moved out of his way, Spider-Boy still holding on to the vibranium he recovered from Blitz. Vulture lunged toward him, but unlike Blitz, the old bird didn’t attempt that spiral twist maneuver. Probably afraid of hurting his back or something.  
  
“Spider...Boy!” Spider-Man called to him, “Keep away!”  
  
“What?” Spider-Boy jumped out of the way of one of the Wake Riders, finally understanding what Spider-Man meant. “Oh. Heads up Spider-Man!”  
  
Spider-Man caught it and when a Wake Rider came his way he tossed to Ghost-Spider, and her to Spider-Girl, and her to Miles. Spider-Man said to keep away, but to Spider-Boy this was flying monkeys in the middle.  
  
 _‘I never expected super-heroics to be… entertaining,’_ Scream said.  
  
“Well it’s like Spider-Man said, these guys are no super villains just an old dude and some former internet celebrities in buzzard suits. Now that I think about it the other three Wake Riders never revealed their names—”  
  
“Who are you talking to bruh?” Blitz asked as he approached Spider-Boy.  
  
“The Spider-Demon that’s inside of me,” Spider-Boy loved Blitz’s confusion. He even did an over the top ninja voice for fun, “A long time ago a giant spider goddess terrorized New York City and to defeat it a powerful warrior sealed it inside the body of a child, hoping that said child would grow up and—”  
  
Blitz punched Spider-Boy, only to miss and end up being thrown into the wall by a web line.  
  
“Don’t tell me you don’t like anime, bruh,” Spider-Boy chuckled as Blitz slid to the ground, “those suits of yours scream _Science Ninja Team Gatchaman_.”  
  
Spider-Boy felt something brush the back of his leg. He turned around to see the lone piece of Vibranium. He saw Vulture coming towards it, quickly picked it up, and jumped out of his way.  
  
And then Vulture unleashed his sonic scream.  
  
It hurt, and not just the sensation of going death, but Spider-Boy felt incredible pain. It was like his body was, his flesh was going to rip apart. No, it’s not just his pain he felt, it was Scream as well. The sound wave was ripping _her_ apart bit by bit.  
  
 _‘Make it stop! Please, it hurts!’_  
  
Spider-Boy dropped to his knees, “Stop, please!”  
  
Vulture continued the assault. Even if he wanted to gloat, he couldn’t or else risk leaving himself open to an attack.  
  
“Help us!” Spider-Boy felt his ears beginning to bleed.  
  
Miles saw everything and prepared to shoot an electro-web at Vulture, “hang on there new guy, I got your...back?”  
  
Tendrils sprouted from Spider-Boy’s, lashing across the room. Everyone, including Vulture, stopped what they were doing to look at him. And that was Vulture’s mistake when a tendril grabbed him by the leg and thrashed him about like a ragdoll. The other Wake Riders were knocked to the ground as well.  
  
“Isn’t that—”  
  
Spider-Man didn’t even let Ghost-Spider finish, “it is.”  
  
The tendril finally let go of Vulture and retracted back to Spider-Boy.  
  
“Spider-Boy? Kid?” Spider-Man tried to turn him around.  
  
“Can you stop yelling for a second,” Spider-Boy asked as he sat up. He uncovered his ears and they were still bleeding.  
  
“We need to get to a hospital,” Ghost-Spider said.  
  
Before Spider-Boy said anything, Scream suddenly wrapped around his face. Spider-Man and the others had their guards up until Scream unwrapped from around him. The blood was gone, even his mask wasn’t wet anymore.  
  
“Wow, I didn’t know you could do that,” Spider-Boy smiled.  
  
“Symbiotes can heal their host’s body, but even our healing powers have limits,” Scream said.  
  
“Well, thanks for fixing my ears,” Spider-Boy placed a hand on his chest.  
  
Spider-Boy looked up to see both Spider-Men, Ghost-Spider, and Spider-Girl looking at him. It was hard to read the former three spider’s expressions, but he assumed it was the same as Spider-Girl’s.  
  
Spider-Boy stood up and twiddled his fingers, “Um...hi?  
  
“Hi...Spider- _Boy_ ,” Spider-Girl said, looking at his costume.  
  
 _‘She’s totally checking out my costume,’_ Spider-Boy shook off the thought and remembered the vibranium in his hand, “so… I caught Barkly Blitz, who I still can’t believe he and the Wake Riders are villains, taking this piece of vibranium from Horizon High. I’ve never seen red vibranium before.”  
  
Spider-Man accepted the vibranium from him, “It’s not exactly vibranium, but that’s not important right now.”  
  
“Right, we need to send these jailbirds back to their cage.”  
  
“True, but that's not what I meant either.”  
  
Spider-Boy smiled and twiddle his hands again, “My _Spider-Demon_?”  
  
The four of them nodded.  
  


* * *

  
The police arrested Vulture, but just as Spider-Man expected the Wake Riders were released thanks to their manager. Of course, Jameson jumped on the chance to criticize Spider-Man for getting the group falsely arrested. To think that a month ago Ock had Jameson spewing out praise for _Superior Spider-Man_ , and Jameson was actually heartbroken when he thought the Regent finished off Spider-Man like he did the Avengers.  
  
“If I would have thought to pull my phone out I could have gotten a picture of Blitz when he fled Horizon,” Spider-Boy sighed.  
  
“Don’t worry, they’ll get caught eventually,” Spider-Man turned to Spider-Boy, looking directly at his outfit, “right now we have something more important to discuss. And I believe you know what that is.”  
  
Spider-Boy smiled, closed his eyes, and Scream appeared in his hand. She opened her eyes and looked up to the four spiders.  
  
“I’m guessing the four of you’re already know this is a symbiote, right?”  
  
“Yeah,” Miles looked at Scream, “but it’s different from Venom. Way different. Why is it orange and yellow?”  
  
“She,” Spider-Boy corrected.  
  
“She?” Miles asked.  
  
“Her name is Scream, and all symbiotes aren’t the same. She’s nothing like the V-252, and we’re nothing like Venom or Eddie Brock,” Spider-Boy stated.  
  
“Looks like you did some research,” Spider-Girl noted.  
  
“O-of course,” Spider-Boy calmed himself, “of course. I wanted to be prepared for when I meet you...all of you. I didn’t want you guys to think we we’re—”  
  
Scream started flapping her mouth, trying to imitate a monster.  
  
“First of all, I’m glad your first plan was to look for us. That was the responsible thing to do.” Spider-Man said.  
  
Spider-Boy smiled.  
  
“But,” Spider-Man continued, “you can’t keep that symbiote.”  
  
Spider-Boy frowned; Scream looked from him to Spider-Man.  
  
“I know the symbiote giving you powers is amazing, spectacular even, but the truth is they’ll begin to corrupt your mind and enforce negative emotions. Have you seen any photos or videos of me in a Black Suit?”  
  
“Red and Black?”  
  
“No, black like Spider-Girl’s.”  
  
“I think so…,” Spider-Boy recalled.  
  
“That was me wearing Venom when it was just Horizon High’s project the V-252. Somehow it latched onto me and at first, I loved what it could do as a suit. Organic webbing, increased strength, and I felt like I was finally becoming a big-time hero.”  
  
Spider-Man crossed his arms, “And then when I figured out the suit was alive it tried to take control me, only wanting me as it’s a host. After I got it off the first time I did wear it again because I needed its power, but I had some help to remove it. One of those times I almost snapped a villain’s spine like a toothpick.”  
  
Scream’s eyes formed a u-shape.  
  
“If it wasn’t for Tony Stark reminding me of who I am and what I stand for, I don’t know what would have happened…”  
  
Spider-Boy pulled Scream closer to him, “I understand what you're saying, but I’m still going by what I said. Scream isn’t like Venom, she doesn’t want to be like him. That was the first thing that she told me when we met yesterday. That she wanted to be a hero.”  
  
“But how do you know she’s not saying that just to use you?” Miles asked.  
  
“Or to attack Spider-Man for Venom,” Spider-Girl asked.  
  
“Because she would have done it by now, right?” Spider-Boy asked. “She did take my body for a joyride—”  
  
All of the spiders except for Ghost-Spider suddenly had their lenses in a glaring position.  
  
“But she was only trying to communicate with me, learn about me. She wants to learn how to be good, how to do good,” Spider-Boy looked over his shoulder, “and I know someone like would probably be doing this just to screw around and be famous, but I really want to help Scream. And my parents always said to never judge an individual based on the actions of another. And Spider-Man, from what Scream has told me all symbiotes are not evil. Maybe the first symbiote had dominance over the others and the rest of species followed suit, but Scream doesn’t want to be evil, a monster, or like Venom.”  
  
Spider-Man looked at the other spiders and then back at Spider-Boy, “If we asked you to hand over your symbiote and we take it to the Space Administration or the Avengers—”  
  
“I’m sorry Spider-Man, but no,” Spider-Boy held Scream closer, “Scream’s already been through that with the Life Foundation.”  
  
“The Life Foundation?” Spider-Man asked.  
  
Spider-Boy nodded and continued, “She’s a living being Spider-Man, like the five of us are. She shouldn’t be treated like a lab experiment. And that’s what’ll happen if you take her away—”  
  
There was a brief silence.  
  
“I...no, we won’t fight you; we won’t become another one of your enemies. You do so much for the city and still, people like Jameson try to make you look like a criminal. I respect you too much as a person to resent you for just a simple refusal. But, Scream is my friend and I promised her that I would look after her and teach her how to be a good person, hero or not.”  
  
Scream reformed Spider-Boy’s costume.  
  
Spider-Boy held out his hand, “Can you teach me how to be a hero, so Scream can learn as well?”  
  
Spider-Man had to think about this, for this was new for him. Miles, Gwen, and Anya wanted to become heroes because they had spider-powers, not necessarily because they looked up to Spider-Man before finding out he was their friend Peter Parker. This guy called himself _Spider-Boy_ , like how Ms. Marvel named herself after Captain Marvel and became her protegee.  
  
There was also his symbiote and the mention of the Life Foundation. Then another thought came to Spidey.  
  
“Who are you Spider-Boy?” He asked.  
  
Spider-Boy was caught off guard by the question, “I...I believe superheroes don’t share secret identities until they become comfortable with each other.”  
  
Spider-Man grasped his hand, “I think Spider-Girl was right, you have done your research. Or you’re just a really enthusiastic fanboy.”  
  
“Isn’t that how we all start out?” Spider-Boy smiled.  
  
Spider-Man turned around to the others, “any objections?”  
  
Ghost-Spider spoke first, “I can’t say I still don’t have nightmares of Venom, but I have to admit your symbiote doesn’t look like the V-252 at all. I’d even say it’s a little cute.”  
  
“She says thank you,” Spider-Boy said.  
  
Miles spoke next, “I’m still unsure about this, but if Spidey thinks its a good idea then I’m okay with it.”  
  
Spider-Girl crossed her arms, “Same here.”  
  
“Cool,” Spider-Boy was hoping she would say something more...positive.  
  
“This isn’t a definite yes you’re a member of our team,” Spider-Man placed his hand on his shoulder, “but I would like to train you for a bit as I did with... _Spider-Man_.”  
  
“And Ghost-Spider and Spider-Girl?”  
  
“He didn’t train us,” Ghost-Spider said with pride.  
  
“We were just that good,” Spider-Girl added.  
  
“Thank you, you two are really helping my point,” Spider-Man turned back to Spider-Boy, “anyway, are you free tomorrow? I’d like to give you an address so we can begin.”  
  
“Sure,” Spider-Boy took out one of his Walkman.  
  
“A walkman?” Miles asked, almost laughing.  
  
“Modded it myself. VPN and everything,” Spider-Boy placed his hands on his hips.  
  
Spider-Man placed the address and time into his Walkman, “FYI, it’s not all fun and games like you see on television.”  
  
Spider-Boy smirked.  
  
“Okay, maybe a little,” Spider-Man admitted, “but I hope you take this training seriously.”  
  
“I will!” Spider-Boy shot a web-line at a billboard and swung off. He shouted over the distance, “And thank you, all of you! We promise you won’t regret this!”  
  
When Spider-Boy was just a speck in the distance Spider-Man turned to his friends. He knew that each of them had different opinions without seeing their face.  
  
“If you guys aren’t sure about this, especially you two Gwen and Anya, I can watch this new spider on my own.”  
  
Miles crossed his arms behind his head. “I don’t know man. I mean if he had “normal” spider-powers I’d feel more chill about this. For all, we know this Spider-Boy could actually be a Venom-Boy.”  
  
“And he was pretty nervous when talking to us,” Spider-Girl added. “Not to mention that he did go Venom on Toomes and the Wake Riders.”  
  
“And he was referring to himself and the symbiote as two people instead of one, just like Brock,” Miles added.  
  
“What if he’s just trying to play us and take us out when we least expect it?” Anya asked.  
  
“And mine and Pete’s spider-sense isn’t triggered by Venom, what if it’s the same with this Spider-Boy?” Miles thought.  
  
Spider-Man looked at Ghost-Spider, “And you Gwen?”  
  
Ghost-Spider crossed her arms, “The first time I saw Venom, that was the first time any of these supervillains or creatures in New York has scared me. He snuck into my dad’s house and knocked me to the floor. I’ll never forget those fangs and that tongue…”  
  
Ghost-Spider looked in the direction Spider-Boy swung off, “I was being honest about his symbiote not looking like Venom, and Spider-Boy himself didn’t give me any bad vibes. I’m willing to give him and his symbiote a chance.”  
  
“Two for two,” Spider-Man said, “why don’t I work with him tomorrow and we gradually start training him as a group. Kind of like a team initiation.”  
  
“Sounds okay to me,” Ghost-Spider said.  
  
Miles and Spider-Girl nodded and swung off.  
  
“Don’t worry Peter,” Ghost-Spider placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll warm up to Spider-Boy when they work with him.”  
  
“It’s not that,” Spider-Man said, “Spider-Boy mentioned that his symbiote came from the Life Foundation.”  
  
“...He did,” Ghost-Spider thought about it, “what are you thinking?”  
  
“That I need to see if the Space Foundation still has its suspended guest.” ****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Debut of Spider-Boy! Miles and Anya being distrusting is something I thought would be interesting, especially with Spider-Boy's admiration for Spider-Girl. Peter and Gwen will be more trusting of him because of the two of them having more belief that anyone has the potential to be good people. Since friendship is one of the main themes of the show Spider-Boy's friendship with them will be a crucial factor.
> 
> Dominic's signed up for Horizon's open house...now he'll need Peter's help. A weakness of mine is writing bully characters, so I hoping that I'm not making Trevor, Billy, and Ramon, specifically the latter two, too cringey with their dialogue. Carlton Drake, aiming for portraying him similar to himself from the Venom movie with hints of himself from the comics and Spider-Man PS4 Norman Osborn. Unlike many families seen in the show, his and Trevor's relationship will be different in the long run.


	4. P.H.A.N.T.O.M's

Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider checked out the Space Administration the previous night. Venom was still there sleeping like a big fat baby, literally. It looked as if the Space Administration made no progress since they placed Brock in that containment unit. It was just Venom and only Venom.  
  
Later after Ghost-Spider left, Spider-Man received a call from Spider-Boy. He assumed it was one of those test calls to see if the line worked, but Spider-Boy called to ask if they could reschedule for Monday at 2:15 pm. He was surprised but okay with Monday.  
  
As for today, Sunday, Spider-Man decided to visit that Life Foundation from the other day. And to his surprise, Carlton Drake himself was flagging him down.  
  
"Spider-Man!" Drake watched as the hero swung, did a flip, and landed on the ground. "Just the superhero I wanted to see."  
  
"Really?" that was a different response for Spidey when visiting the leaders of a famous company. "That's not the response I usually get."  
  
"Well in this case you are an eye witness to what happened inside my Foundation," Drake placed his arm around Spider-Man. It made the web-slinger a little uncomfortable, but he allowed it to stay. "I believe someone has stolen one of my experiments."  
  
Spider-Man's lenses bulged for a second before saying, "I'm actually here to talk about those experiments too. They gave me a bad sense of deja vu."  
  
Drake removed his arm from around him, "that is...understandable."  
  


* * *

  
Seeing more of the Life Foundation brought back memories of Spider-Man's tour of Oscorp. Back when he received his spider-powers. _'Guess every technological facility would have a similar layout'_ , he thought as he looked around each area they passed.  
  
"Didn't take you as a man of science Spider-Man," Drake noticed the web-slinger gazing at everything they passed by.  
  
"Oh, well you have to be when supervillains are trying to knock you into next week with their own piece of tech," Spider-Man answered.  
  
"And what parts of your suit have technology built into it?" Drake asked, "just my curiosity."  
  
"Classified," Spider-Man said.  
  
"Understandable," Drake led Spider-Man into the security room after Treece held the door for them. The security guards pulled up a surveillance tape of the fight with the Wild Pack from Friday. "As you see Spider-Man, that child from Midtown High School was in the room with you, your allies, and those criminals that attempted to steal the works of my foundation."  
  
"He didn't steal anything," Spider-Man said, "everything was in that bag being tossed around and Spider-Girl got it and him out of there. She saw that kid go to the teachers and scientists. with it"  
  
"Nothing out of the ordinary about him?" Drake asked.  
  
"Like he was taken over by a symbiote?" Spider-Man looked at Drake when he said nothing. "No he wasn't, but the substances in those jars were symbiotes, right? I don't know how you got more, but—"  
  
"Spider-Man, I know about Horizon and the V-252," Drake pulled up blueprints on a tablet, "the substances in those jars are man-made symbiotes. Not an alien-like that puddle of black goo."  
  
"Man-made?" Spider-Man asked.  
  
"Ever heard of a film called _Flubber_ , Spider-Man?" Drake asked.  
  
"Flub-what?"  
  
"In the film, a scientist was able to create a sentient green goo with extraordinary amounts of elasticity and kinetic energy. In this modern-day, my scientists and I were able to recreate something fictional in the real world."  
  
"But you did say sentient," Spider-Man reminded.  
  
"In the film, not what my foundation has created," Drake stated, "our symbiotes are not alive, braindead if that helps ease your worries. Then again, one of mine is still missing."  
  
Drake turned to Spider-Man, "and are you sure that boy didn't steal anything. My son goes to school with him and says otherwise."  
  
"Everything was in the bag."  
  
"What about any of your allies."  
  
"They not thieves. There was a crack in the jar, so maybe your non-sentient symbiote leaked out and evaporated."  
  
"Maybe," Drake slipped his sunglasses on, "just let me know if you find anyone using my symbiote for nefarious purposes. I want to see anyone who dares trifle with the hard work of my employees and myself facing justice."  
  
"Right," Spider-Man said.  
  
Drake smiled and looked at Treece. The bodyguard showed Spider-Man the way out of the building.  
  


* * *

  
"So boss, you think Spider-Man will really tell you if he finds that person with your symbiote?"  
  
Drake turned to Treece when he asked him that. Not saying a single word to his employee.  
  
"Right, so what are you going to do now."  
  
Drake walked toward the doors, "Consult with an associate of mine, and tell Doctor Skirth to send the P.H.A.N.T.O.M prototype to target Midtown High School."  
  
"Isn't that the school your son attends?"  
  
"Yes, yes it is," Drake smiled, "my plan is to draw out this Dominic Washington, or whoever may have my symbiote. If the P.H.A.N.T.O.M starts attacking, then we know our target is at Midtown High. If it chases a different student, then we still have our target."  
  


* * *

  
Peter stood outside Midtown High on Monday morning and talked with Miles over the phone about his little chat with Carlton Drake.  
  
"Flub-what?"  
  
"Not important. What is important is that those blobs we saw at the Life Foundation were symbiotes, and I believe Drake is up to something since he told me they weren't sentient, and Spider-Boy's obviously is."  
  
"Man, I remember when Norman Osborn was the only other person interested in the V-252 symbiote," Miles said, "what does Drake want symbiotes for?"  
  
"That...I didn't figure out. What I do know is that he believes Dominic or one of us has his missing symbiote that is in Spider-Boy's possession."  
  
"Who's Dominic?"  
  
"The guy I introduced you guys to at the Life Foundation."  
  
"Oh, yeah I remember now...you don't think he could be Spider-Boy now that you mention it?"  
  
Peter thought about it, "He was in the room with us, but the Wild Pack had everything in that bag. And I think between him and Anya, she would have made contact with any symbiote first."  
  
"Well her suit is black like Venom...what if her powers came from a piece of the V-252 and not from Spider-Island as she thought?"  
  
Peter didn't say anything.  
  
Miles forked out a laugh, "Yeah. So Gwen told us that Spider-Boy canceled on you yesterday and that you were going to train him today. You want us to come with or are you still going to train him on your own today."  
  
"By myself," Peter said, "I still think it'll be better if we get him working with all of us in steps. I could tell he felt nervous about how you and Anya were a little distrusting of him...and his symbiote."  
  
"I don't know man. It just seems a little weird that he knew so much about the incidents with the V-252 and that he straight out said he wouldn't betray you. Seems like he was a bit desperate to be a part of the….what are we going to call ourselves?"  
  
"The Web-Warriors!" Peter shouted that out loud. A few students passing by looking at him, and he said it was the name of a video game. He also noticed Dominic passing by, "Gotta go Miles."  
  
Peter followed Dominic at a distance. He didn't do anything that wasn't normal. Except for the walkman. Not everyone had a Stark Phone, but the walkman was obsolete by comparison...to everything actually. The last time Peter saw anybody with one was Star-Lord of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and he had the original one that played cassette tapes.  
  
"Washington!"  
  
 _Oh boy,_ Peter saw two of the boys who bother Dominic. And they were carrying a laptop. They shoved it into Dominic's hands.  
  
"Take your stupid laptop back," Billy said, "couldn't even get into."  
  
"Who keeps a password on their laptop anyway?" Ramon asked.  
  
"People who don't want others to steal their information," Dominic stated.  
  
"Then that idiot shouldn't leave their stinkin' backpack tied to a wall in an alley," Ramon shoved that it Dominic's hands too.  
  
Dominic grimaced at the backpacks odor, and he was sure that it didn't come from the dumpster he stuck it next too. He placed it into his locker and closed the door. Then he saw Peter.  
  
"Pete!" Dominic was surprised by how he reacted, almost like he didn't want to be seen. "Did I catch you at a bad time."  
  
"No, not at all!" Peter calmed down, "I was just in my own world for a second."  
  
"Oh, well you know how you said you wouldn't mind helping me with my Horizon High project?"  
  
"You signed up!?" Peter was hushed by Dominic.  
  
"Yeah…, but you don't have to tell the entire school. I have an idea for an invention, one that I might be able to build on my own. I just need some help finding the parts."  
  
"Then just call me Peter Parter. I can help you with that, but not today. I have too...help a friend of mine from Horizon after school."  
  
"I didn't mean today either. I have to...do something with some friends. Not Randy and Liz, some other friends of mine."  
  
The intercom buzzed, **"Good morning students. Today with a surprise guest speaker in the auditorium and would look for everyone to be seated in the next few minutes."**  
  
"Guest speaker?" Peter asked.  
  
"Maybe Ms. Marconi found someone to replace Tiberius Stone," Dominic said.  
  


* * *

  
Ms. Marconi did find someone to replace Stone, or someone who called her and the school agreed to it due to the amount of money he was donating.  
  
Carlton Drake.  
  
"When I heard about Mr. Stone's experimenting on human subjects, I was disgusted and appalled at the headlines. I only wish that someone would have notified me sooner that Horizon needed a donation for their science department. My son Trevor is on the sports team, so I don't blame him for not being aware. Nevertheless, I'll be happy to donate enough money to Midtown High's science department. After all, Horizon shouldn't be the only school for future scientists and geniuses in the world."  
  
The crowd cheered.  
  
Drake continued, "And why should students have to pay a large sum of money to further their learning? Why go to a school that lacks... _social diversity_. I think Mrs. Marconi put it best when she brought up the question to us at the board meeting, "why go to a school where everyone is the same?" You can't change the world when everyone has the same goals and passions. Where is the uniqueness? The individuality?"  
  
Peter rested his chin in the palm of his hands, ignoring his elbows digging into his knees. _Of course, there goes the traditional shots aimed at Horizon. The good thing is that Midtown will get the money for their science department._  
  
"And I would like for a few select students to help on a project that the foundation will be donating to Midtown in the coming months. My scientists and I will look over a list of grades and you all will be notified when the time comes."  
  
Drake pressed his fingers against his ear, "it appears this is the conclusion of my speech. Have a nice day to all of you future—"  
  
The left wall broke into rubble. Two robots, one the size of a person and the other one wielding two mounted pistols, entered through the hole. They looked at those who were on stage, and then toward the audience. The one with the pistols held aimed them at the audience and the pistols were noticeably glowing blue.  
  
"It's _Ultron_!" a student yelled as everyone got out of their seats and ran toward an exit that was nearest toward them.  
  
Peter ducked behind some seats that gave him cover in the commotion. When he popped back up as Spider-Man he wasn't expecting one of the robots to be directly in his face. His spider-sense didn't alert him to the robot.  
  
"Woah there little guy!" Spider-Man jumped back and clung to a wall. "I don't know who sent you and your buddy to Midtown High...I don't know why someone sent you and your buddy to Midtown High, but this auditorium as far the both of you go!"  
  
 **"Symbiote readings...,"** both robots said.  
  
Spider-Man winced, "Symbiote readings?"  
  
 **"Symbiote readings 100% and 5% on the move,"** The robot with the two pistols made way for the auditorium doors until Spider-Man tripped it with his webbing.  
  
"Sorry pal, but it isn't symbiote hunting sea—" Spider-Man was yanked by his web by the smaller robot and slammed into the seats. The robot landed on top of him and tried to punch his head off. "So you're a combat android huh?"  
  
Spider-Man shot a web at what he assumed was the robot's source of vision. Then he kicked it off of him and looked for the other robot. It was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Great, trigger happy—" this time his spider-sense went off. This time Spider-Man was able to avoid the smaller robot's flying kick.  
  
 _Spider-sense working now? Great!_ Spider-Man ran toward the robot and jumped just as it turned around.  
  


* * *

  
The explosions all round the school have caused everyone to run around in a panic, trying to find any form of escape for the robot. When the sea of students diminished to just himself, his friends…, and them Dominic noticed that the robot with two guns was still trailing them. _But why?_  
  
Dominic wanted to see if there was any chance of it coming after him and Scream specifically. Trevor, Ramon, and Billy were the obstacles in his way, for anytime he slowed down one of them would smack him on the back and yell, "stop acting like a wimp Washington and use dingo legs to run."  
  
And Liz Allen and Mary Jane Watson would scold them, while Flash would say they're just joking. Dominic really hated that Flash couldn't see that they were mistreating his friendship.  
  
 _Time to thin the pack._ Dominic slowed down, moving aside from Trevor, Ramon, and Billy. The three of them didn't utter a word, but Randy saw him from the reflection in his glasses.  
  
"Dominic what are you doing?"  
  
"Giving you guys a chance to get out of here!"  
  
"That's crazy!" Liz yelled. "You can't fight that thing!"  
  
"I'm going to try and distract it by running the other way!"  
  
"That's suicide!"  
  
"And we'll release doves at his funeral!" Ramon said as he pushed Liz along with Trevor and Billy pushing everyone else.  
  
"If Washington wants to play hero then let him!" Trevor yelled.  
  
Dominic ran down another hallway, hearing the footsteps of the robot behind him. Then the heat of a laser that Scream is sensing for him.  
  
 _Dominic. Are you ready?_  
  
He smirked, _Born Ready!_  
  


* * *

  
"Dominic's still in there!"  
  
"And Peter Parker Ms. Marconi," Mary Jane never recalled seeing him leave the auditorium.  
  
"It'll be okay," Ms. Marconi reassured her students, "we'll send some people to go in and look for them."  
  
Crashing through two windows were both robots, Spider-Man, and Spider-Boy. The two spiders landed in the same pose, mirroring each other.  
  
"Spider-Man!?"  
  
"Spider-Boy!?"  
  
"Ah yeah!" the two looked at Flash, who had just taken their picture, "Spidey's got a new sidekick." He switched the camera to live-stream, "new Spidey what's your name. No, don't tell me...Spider-Kid, Garden-Spider, Arachknight, Tarantula, Black Tarantula—"  
  
"Spider-Boy!"  
  
"I don't know, Arachknight sounds cool to me," Spider-Man said.  
  
Spider-Boy crossed his arms, "Nah, sounds too edgy."  
  
Both robots flipped themselves up, both staring solely at Spider-Boy.  
  
"Target acquired!"  
  
Spider-Man whispered to Spider-Boy, "Remember our rescheduled training session?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"It starts now," Spider-Man pointed toward the football field, "get all of these to the field where it's safe."  
  
Ms. Marconi and the other faculty members escorted the students to the football field. Marconi had to come back for Flash, who was too busy trying to film some Spidey action.  
  
Spider-Man turned back to Spider-Boy, "Bait them. We run toward them and then cross to the other robot."  
  
Spider-Boy tied his jacket around his waist and ran alongside Spider-Man. The robots came for them and Spider-Boy went for the smaller one while Spider-Man went for the bigger one with two pistols. With his spider-sense working again, Spider-Man was able to fight the machine better this time. There was a light coming from the robot's chest.  
  
"Either that's a chest cannon or your power source," Spider-Man shot a web when the object was exposed, "let's hope it's the latter!"  
  
Spider-Man caught the object after he yanked from the robot and the machine powered down. Before Spider-Man could approach it, the robot vanished. Even the part in his hand was gone.  
  
"That's the first time I've seen a robot teleport…" Spider-Man looked over at Spider-Boy. He was holding the smaller robot arms in his hands and they vanished from him as well. "Symbiote hunting robots that vanish into thin air…"  
  
Spider-Man noticed the Midtown High students and faculty coming back, along with Carlton Drake.  
  
"Spider-Man!" Drake was the first to approach him with Ms. Marconi and Principal Davis right behind. "Thank goodness you were able to destroy those two androids."  
  
Spider-Boy stood beside Spider-Man, Drake looked at him, "and of course your friend as well."  
  
"Yeah," Spider-Man was trying to diverge his attention from Spider-Boy, "these robots—"  
  
"Are of the Life Foundation, unfortunately," Drake noticed the looks Ms. Marconi, Principal Davis, and their co-workers were giving him, "my workers and I only made blueprints, mere schematics. We never constructed a prototype."  
  
"We've already had Tiberius Stone endanger our school, Mr. Drake," Ms. Marconi stated.  
  
"And I assure you Ms. Marconi, and Principal Davis, that I intend to bring no harm to Midtown High, it's students, my son, or anyone else in the area. Midtown High will still receive my funding, but I think any appearances will have to be withheld until I can get to the bottom of things."  
  
Principal Davis sighed, "Well it looks like we'll have to close down the school...again."  
  
"Yes!" Spider-Boy exclaimed.  
  
"What was that other Spider-Man?"  
  
"I said yes, it does look like you'll have to close the school...and there might be a few students who'll need some dents straightened out in their lockers."  
  
"Forget the lockers. Have either of you seen two students named Peter Parker and Dominic Washington?" Ms. Marconi asked.  
  
"I got them out of the building!" both spiders said in unison.  
  
"I got whichever one had brown hair and green eyes," Spider-Man said.  
  
"And I got Dominique."  
  
"Dominic."  
  
"That's what I said."  
  
"And having said that, my sidekick and I need to go and patrol the city as heroes do!" Spider-Man said as he shot a web and swung off.  
  
"R-right!" Spider-Boy swung after him.  
  


* * *

  
As Drake and Trevor got inside of their limousine, Drake glanced back at the school, seeing Dominic and Peter run toward their group of friends. Though Drake could care less about the latter, he focused on Dominic. He looked tired, but nothing that indicated he was Spider-Boy. We'll see what each of my P.H.A.N.T.O.M's recorded of today's events. One of them must have caught something peculiar.  
  
"Trevor," Drake looked at his son, who had his eyes glued to his smartphone, "can you tell me more about this Dominic Washington?"  
  
"Geek, music geek, dyes his hair red, and," Trevor snickered, "my pals Ramon and Billy tricked him into signing up for Horizon High."  
  
"Oh really?" Drake lit a cigarette. "He doesn't look like the scientist type. Is his family wealthy enough to afford the school."  
  
Trevor shrugged, "his dad is some teacher at ESU. Though since Washington carries around a walkman they must be somewhat poor."  
  
Horizon High… Drake smiled as he remembered Spider-Man often associates himself with that school… and that's where the V-252 symbiote originated. Including their research on the creature. Of course, Drake has better knowledge than a couple of high school students, but any knowledge is good knowledge. And looking at Trevor, he may have found an excuse to visit Max Modell in the upcoming months.  
  


* * *

  
"So I was trapped behind some lockers until Spider-Boy got me free," Dominic explained to Liz, Randy, Flash, and Mary Jane.  
  
"And Spider-Man saved me when I was trapped in the auditorium," Peter also explained.  
  
"Too bad you guys couldn't see both spidey's trash those robots," Flash pulled put his phone, "but you can watch the video on my channel!"  
  
"But now we're going to the Cup O' Joes," Liz said as she pushes Flash's hand down.  
  
"I'd love to guys, but my dad asked me to do some things at home," Dominic started walking, "I'll catch up with you all later."  
  
"Peter?" Mary Jane asked.  
  
"Oh, I've got a thing to do too...for my Aunt May. Maybe some other time," Peter ran off once he saw someone swinging through the air.  
  
Liz shook her head, "I hope Parker doesn't start rubbing off on Dominic."  
  
"Just because they both had something else to do?" Randy asked with a chuckle. "Not that I enjoy subbing for Peter when does his disappearing act, but he's been trying to come around Liz."  
  
"And everyone's been putting a lot of pressure on him since he's come back from Horizon," Mary Jane added.  
  
"He shouldn't have made promises to help out on so many things," Liz said.  
  
"Half the time no one gave him the chance to accept or to refuse," Mary Jane held her arm, "I heard him talking to Max Modell about transferring back to Horizon, and....I wouldn't blame him."  
  
"Yeah, those eggheads from Horizon are actually okay when you get to know them," Flash said, "but can you believe they never had a school dance or anything fun until last year? And that was Parker's idea."  
  
"That's not a bad idea Flash," everyone looked at Mary Jane in surprise from saying that, "why not throw a party or something for the students transferring to Horizon?"  
  


* * *

  
"I wanted to say thanks for the help back there."  
  
"But, Scream and I really didn't do anything."  
  
Spider-Man and Spider-Boy sat on a building. Pigeons really liked the particular sport. Many of the birds were perched on clotheslines and the ledges. The spiders had to move around to make sure none of them would release their bowls from above.  
  
"Ever heard of Newton's third law?" Spider-Man asked.  
  
Spider-Boy tucked in his lips, "that's… the one where for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, right?"  
  
"Right. Because you took action, I had some extra help. I could have taken those two robots out on my own, but because you happened to be around everyone was equally safe."  
  
Spider-Boy leaned against a box, "I'm not science enthusiasts, but I'm pretty sure the third law is about the interaction between two objects."  
  
"Yeah," Spider-Man thought back to the fight, "and when I interacted with that robot's core, both of them just vanished. Whoever sent them did not want to be traced back."  
  
"And those robots were after Scream and I," Dominic crossed his arms behind his head, "the one with two guns kept chanting symbiote reading when it came closer to us."  
  
"And from past experience, we shouldn't trust Drake's words just yet," Spider-Man said. "You said that your symbiote is from the Life Foundation, but that isn't where you got it from right?"  
  
"Met," Spider-Boy corrected, "and that's partially correct. I didn't take her from the Life Foundation. She hitched a ride."  
  
Spider-Boy stood up, walked toward the edge of the building, and looked at Midtown High, "And it was our fault those robots attacked Midtown High…"  
  
Spider-Man stood next to him, "The important thing is that no one was hurt."  
  
"But what makes you think Carlton Drake planned this?" Spider-Boy asked. "He has a son that goes to that school, and he was giving a speech there today."  
  
"To take suspicion off of himself," Spider-Man crossed his arms, "again, past experience."  
  
He placed his hand on Spider-Boy's shoulder, "but I think you and your symbiote can help me find out who sent those robots, in case it wasn't Drake. Most likely they'll be back, and when they do we'll try to have something prepared to make sure they won't get away next time."  
  
"So those this mean I'm...Scream and I are officially your sidekicks?" Spider-Boy smiled and shot the finger guns sign at Spider-Man.  
  
Spider-Man chuckled, "you are the first person to call yourself my sidekick and be okay with that. I don't consider the other spiders my sidekicks because each of them are my friends and is more than sidekicks. I don't know you all that well Spider-Boy, but it wouldn't be fair to call you a sidekick. How about protege?"  
  
Spider-Boy smiled, "that works too."  
  
"And the other spiders...I'm sure they'll warm up to you when you work with us."  
  
"So this means I'm officially a member of the...what is your team's name again?"  
  
"We're still workshopping it… and it means… " Spider-Man tried to think of something Iron Man or Black Widow would say whenever he asks them if he's an honorary Avenger.  
  
Then his cellphone went off.  
  
"The Hippo and Panda-Girl again?" Spider-Man scoffed and slid his phone back into his pocket. Then he looked at Spider-Boy, "have anywhere to be right now?"  
  
"School if it wasn't, you know."  
  
"Then are you ready for a tutoring session?"  
  
Spider-Boy was about to answer until an elderly lady kicked a door to the rooftop open. Seeing the broom reminded Spider-Man of who this woman was—  
  
"Spider-Boy we need to leave, like a second ago!"  
  
Spider-Boy was about to ask about his jumpiness until this elderly woman spun her broom around and jumped into the air. He ran after Spider-Man and swung after him, still having felt that broom across his backside.  
 ****


	5. Jury Duty

After two weeks of training with Spider-Boy, Spider-Man was beginning to feel that he could trust him and his symbiote. They were nothing like Eddie Brock or the V-252. At times Spider-Man almost forgot about the symbiote until Spider-Boy brought it up. Maybe in one aspect, they were similar to Brock and Venom in that Spider-Boy cared about the creature, but not in a possessive way as Brock. There were many questions Spider-Man wanted to ask him but he decided they were better for another time.  
  
Spider-Man did have to admit that working with Spider-Boy was a different experience than his times with Miles and Gwen. He would ask questions, he would never try to take the lead against super-villains, and he laughed at his jokes. Okay, most of them, but it was nice for someone to give him a laugh once in a while. Spider-Boy already felt like a part of the team, but he wasn’t yet and he never rushed Spider-Man take to make him an official spider. Although, Spider-Man could tell that he was fond of a certain spider. Nothing wrong with that, but Spidey suggests to get rid of the jacket. They might be spider-themed heroes, but that doesn’t mean you should, “give your enemies eight ways to grab you.”  
  
And Spider-Boy learned that lesson when the two fought Grizzly a previous day.  
  
In the present day, the teacher and student swung by a Chinese Restaurant and decided to have fried rice for lunch on top of a building in Time Square. The view was amazing and Spider-Boy could only wonder what the area looked like from this perspective at night. Then he felt Scream reform into his lap, wanting her _lunch_ too.  
  
“A chocolate bar?” Spider-Man watched as Spider-Boy feed it to Scream.  
  
“Symbiotes need to feed on phenethylamine,” Spider-Boy answered.  
  
Scream stopped chewing on the chocolate bar and looked at Spider-Man The candy was sticking out of her mouth like a baby holding their bottle.  
  
“That’s the chemical that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain,” Spider-Man thought about that for a moment, “so symbiotes feed on that when bonded to a host?”  
  
“Not as much as they would feed on adrenaline and negative emotions,” Spider-Boy rubbed Scream and she purred, “but Scream doesn’t do that. And they don’t have to at all. It’s just that some...you know.”  
  
“Yeah,” Spider-Man took a bite of his rice, “that would explain how Venom manipulated my actions and emotions when I wore it as a costume.”  
  
Spider-Man looked back at Scream, who had just finished licking the chocolate from her face, “Not gonna lie though, if Venom would have acted like...Scream was it? I wouldn’t have minded having it as a partner.”  
  
Scream made noises Spider-Man could not understand.  
  
Spider-Boy translated for him, “She asked if you tried to communicate with Venom.”  
  
Spider-Man crossed his arms, “the first time I came into contact with Venom everyone thought it was a _non-living_ substance. It was donated to Horizon High by the Space Administration and Max Modell wanted to make it a new element on the periodic table. He allowed a few students to experiment on Venom, but it wasn’t until the Space Administration reclaimed it and experimented on it again that they unlocked the symbiote’s ability to communicate with its host. And that’s when it bonded to Eddie Brock, told him who I was under the mask, and they went after everyone close to me.”  
  
“What happened to this Eddie Brock after that?” Spider-Boy asked. “I saw Jameson’s report about him, but he never said what happened to the guy.”  
  
“The Space Administration is trying to find a way to separate him from the symbiote. Ghost-Spider and I checked on him two weeks ago and the symbiote was still covering Brock’s body. He’s been in a coma for about two months now,” Spider-Man looked at Scream, “I use to think that it was Brock doing all of the talking for him and the symbiote, even though I knew both of their hatred towards me is what fueled their symbiosis. After seeing you and your friend I get the feeling there were two voices in one body.”  
  
Spider-Boy chucked, “Scream can talk through me, but we didn’t want to creep you guys out.”  
  
“Not if Scream stays in that form. Those tsum-tsums are all the rage right now at Coney Island. By the way, Spider-Boy, do you and Scream have any other abilities besides, well mine….and tendrils?”  
  
“We haven’t tried doing anything besides whatever a spider can,” Spider-Boy pointed to his ears, “and the tendrils were just because we panicked at that loud noise.”  
  
“I know the feeling. Toomes is no songbird. Actually, he _isn’t_ _Song Bird_ ,” thinking about it, Spider-Man realized that Toomes’ tech did rip-off Song Bird’s own sonic device and another Avenger, the Falcon’s, original flight suit.  
  
Spider-Boy stood up and Scream reformed his costume, “it’s like we said that day, we’re not trying to be like Eddie Brock or Venom.”  
  
Spider-Man stood up, “and I can tell that _both_ of you are nothing like Brock and V-252 symbiote. But how you two user your powers is your choice, not mine….unless you use them to commit a crime.”  
  
Spider-Boy smirked, “well there is a music store I was thinking about knocking over. Dove Cameron’s album _Born Ready_ , eccezionale.”  
  
“Oooh, Dove Cameron! Mind if I tag along?”  
  
The two turned around to see Ghost-Spider.  
  
“Ghost-Spider,” Spider-Man was surprised to see her, “enjoying a nice afternoon in the city too?"  
  
"Something like that," She turned to Spider-Boy and held out her fist, "nice seeing you again Spider-Boy."  
  
He smiled and returned the fist bump, "same here. Um, would Spider-Girl happened to be coming too?"  
  
"Afraid not," She placed a hand on his shoulder, "but I'll tell her your thinking about."  
  
"Oh that isn't necessary," Spider-Boy reassured when she winked at him, "I was just curious about her. And the other Spidey. The other Spider-Guy too!"  
  
"You'll get your chance to work with them, I promise," Spider-Man looked by at Ghost-Spider, "since you are here Ghost-Spider, do you mind being my teacher assistant if you have the time?"  
  
“Sure,” Ghost-Spider placed her arm around Spider-Boy, “you and Mi—I mean the other Spidey—” she muttered something about him needing to pick a hero name, “don’t get to be the only teachers anymore. And I think my teachings can offer our new friend a more _loose_ way of being a superhero.”  
  
“Why does the way you emphasize loose make me nervous,” Spider-Man asked.  
  
“Because you still act like a wet blanket sometimes,” Ghost-Spider winked.  
  


* * *

  
“ _The Jury_ I presume?”  
  
Drake studied the three individuals that Treece led into his office. Two members, a man and woman, were dressed in armored suits while the second was dressed in attire similar to Captain America, except the uniform was a darker shade of blue.”  
  
“Yes sir,” the man dressed as Captain America shook Drake’s hand, “John Walker, but you may call me U.S. Agent and these two are Firearm and Wysper.”  
  
Drake lowered his glasses, “pardon me asking but I thought there was more to this group?”  
  
“We also have other clients,” Firearm stated.  
  
“And six armored individuals would be rather suspicious for this job you requested,” Wysper said.  
  
Drake smirked, “point taken. Another question for you Mr. Walker, why on Earth are you dressed like Captain Rogers?”  
  
Walker scoffed, “to show the world that their so-called “Captain America” isn’t the hero he claims to be.”  
  
“I completely understand,” Drake smiled, “The secondary goal for my Life Foundation is similar. But you three give me my word to carry out the task, no questions asked?”  
  
U.S. Agent held out his hand, “that was part of our training sir.”  
  
Drake accepted his hand and turned to Treece, “Treece, show our clients to their vehicle for this task.”  
  
Treece nodded and motioned for _The Jury_ to follow him. His asking of why the group decided to name themselves that made Drake sigh.  
  
Once he was left alone in his office, Drake opened two file folders and clicked on four folders. Two were of Spider-Boy and Dominic Washington and the other two were of a woman and that same woman bonded to a symbiote.  
  
 _‘I know that the symbiotes and host must be compatible and part of that compatibility includes health to achieve perfect symbiosis. Spider-Man’s powers most likely gave him additional compatibility with the V-252, but still….’_  
  
Drake looked at the picture of both Dominic and the woman.  
  
 _‘It’ll be figured out once I have test subjects that reflect the current evolutionary chain.’_  
  


* * *

  
Ghost-Spider found it humorous that Spider-Man began to swing ahead after he said this would be a web-wings lesson. Apparently, that was Spider-Boy’s weakest link and Ghost-Spider saw why the first moment they took off. Spider-Boy’s web-wings were originally extended to his waist until Ghost-Spider suggested that he shortened them to his underarms. And he did with the use of his symbiote.  
  
Ghost-Spider would be lying if she didn’t find the creature interesting. That was the scientist’s part of her. When Venom broke into her house, it scared her to death. If she had her powers back then Venom would be a mouth fangless. Ghost-Spider knew she shouldn’t be so quick to trust after everything that’s happened with Doc-Ock, but Spider-Boy and his symbiote appeared to be genuinely good. And she’s pretty sure that no one out to gain revenge on Spider-Man would stoop to dabbing alongside him to gain his trust.  
  
She noticed Spider-Boy was looking at her and fluttered her mask lens, “like the view?”  
  
“I’m just noticing how good you are at this,” Spider-Boy said. “Spider-Man shifts his weight a little sometimes, but you’ve been flowing with the wind ever since.”  
  
Ghost-Spider chuckled, “I have the power to sort of glide...or fly. I’m still practicing it myself.”  
  
Spider-Boy smiled, “sounds like a cool superpower.”  
  
“I don’t know,” Ghost-Spider said, “I think what you and your symbiote can do is cooler. You could wear the latest fashion without buying it.”  
  
“We may have dabbled a bit into that,” Spider-Boy admitted, “but Scream’s powers don’t come without drawbacks. If this little signorina shoots too much webbing than she gets exhausted and I have to feed her chocolate. The chemicals in it give her energy.”  
  
“Really?” Ghost-Spider asked.  
  
“Really, and she loves chocolate.”  
  
“It’s just...interesting. We all thought Venom was just Eddie Brock, but to know that the symbiote, any symbiote has thoughts and opinions of their own is amazing. Guess that goes to show you that you should always get to know someone beforehand.”  
  
Spider-Boy smiled, “your definitely the upbeat and trusting one of the group.”  
  
“I guess you could say that,” Ghost-Spider sighed, “both Spider-Man and I believe that everyone deserves a chance to be the best they can be when they try too, but many people have trifled with that trust in the past year. Past month even.”  
  
She turned back to Spider-Boy, “that’s why Spider-Girl and the other Spider-Man were a bit—”  
  
“Yeah,” Spider-Boy chuckled, “I noticed. And like I said I don’t blame them. Scream and I read about Venom from articles we found online. I had forgotten he bonded to Flash Thompson and attacked Midtown High during a football game.”  
  
“Oh, I never knew about that.”  
  
“Spider-Man said that he and Max Modell thought Tony Stark had taken the V-252 back to Avengers Compound, but a piece of it actually latched onto to a student from Midtown High, Flash Thompson, at the Stark Expo.”  
  
“But he did take it back with him,” Ghost-Spider recalled that day, “yeah, he paralyzed it with his suits thruster beam and took the container the V-252 was placed in with him.”  
  
“Say Scream, what do you think of this?”  
  
Scream was about to answer until Spider-Boy’s walkman vibrated and Ghost-Spider’s commlink in her mask played its ringtone.  
  
“I noticed you guys trailed behind, but I need you to speed up toward Central Park,” Spider-Man said, “both of you are not going to believe this.”  
  
Ghost-Spider turned to Spider-Boy and told him to follow her lead. She tucked in her wings, did a swan dive, untucked her wings, and picked up speed. Spider-Boy did the same and kept up with her as they found Spider-Man perched on a light pole near the park entrance. The two spiders clung to the pole underneath him.  
  
“So what are we looking for?” Ghost-Spider asked.  
  
“Yeah, because it feels like we’re auditioning for _Singing in the Rain_ ,” Spider-Boy joked.  
  
“Look at those three near that bridge,” Spider-Man pointed toward them.  
  
Ghost-Spider and Spider-Boy noticed two of the people. Both were wearing what looked like bad imitations of Iron Man’s armor, but the one who caught their attention was the guy dressed as Captain America. He’s leading, no ordering people to get into the back of a pickup truck. Not Captain America-like behavior.  
  
“Are they kidnapping people?” Spider-Boy asked.  
  
“Well it’s definitely not Uber,” Ghost-Spider said.  
  
“Come on, let’s go see if we can figure out what “Captain America” is up too,” Spider-Man jumped off the light pole and swung toward the bridge.  
  
As they got closer, Spider-Man heard the trio refer to themselves as U.S. Agent, Firearm, and Wysper. Spider-Man motioned for Ghost-Spider and Spider-Boy to stay hidden and then to free the captives after he distracts the three Avengers knockoffs.  
  
“Get your butts moving people. If this was a soup kitchen line you all would fighting to get a bowl of that slop,” U.S. Agent said as he shoved a woman into the back of the van.  
  
“You ought to be a shame of yourself,” an elderly man gained the attention of Agent, “I met Captain America in this park once. Came and accompanied me on a run. Then he helped out the community by picking up trash and making sure the animals in the pond were okay after an oil spill. Why are ruining his good name.”  
  
U.S Agent scoffed and reached for his shield, “I didn’t think we were gonna have to make an example out anyone, but—” he lifted his hand to reach for his shield, but felt something latch onto it. Then he felt some yank his shield from his back.  
  
“But—” Spider-Man landed, gaining the attention of U.S. Agent, Firearm, Wysper, and the people, “Captain American would never harm an innocent civilian.”  
  
U.S. Agent smirked, “Spider-Man I presume? I’ve heard about you, I’ve seen what the Avengers think of you.”  
  
“Really?” Spider-Man asked sarcastically. “Because I’ve met them enough times to get their opinion of me. So if this is one of those _you’d be better off working with us_ kind of thing, than you might as well stop before diving into it. And I’m actually closer to Iron Man, Black Widow, and Ms. Marvel than Cap. There was this one time I thought I was helping him against H.Y.D.R.A. agents, but it turned out to be an illusion by this loser named Mysterio. D-list villain at best and—”  
  
“Hey!” Firearm brought everyone’s attention to the back of the van, which was empty except for Ghost-Spider and Spider-Boy.  
  
The two waved at him and said, “hey” in unison.  
  
U.S. Agent and Wysper noticed that the old man and the others they rounded up in the park had disappeared too.  
  
“So who are you guys suppose to be? The Dark Avengers? The Revengers?” Spider-Boy asked.  
  
“The Jury,” Wysper answered.  
  
“Like in a court?” Ghost-Spider asked.  
  
“That’s right,” Firearm’s fists glowed red, “because like a jury we decide the verdict of those we come across.”  
  
U.S. Agent smirked as he held two fingers to the side of his mask, “and it looks like our judge would like to have one of you in our court as compensation for losing those people. Firearm, Wysper; you know what to do!”  
  
“With pleasure!” Firearm held up a fist as if to blast Spider-Boy and Ghost-Spider, but he shot Spider-Man to give U.S. Agent back his shield.  
  
U.S. Agent and Wysper went after Spider-Boy and Ghost-Spider while Firearm fought Spider-Man.  
  
“Now I see why you’re called Firearm!” Spider-Man said as he felt the heat from the man’s gauntlets each time he dodged them. “Given the armor, I would have called you _Fireman_. Seriously though, Tony Stark know you’re infringing on his trademark?”  
  
“Battlestar and Paladin warned us about you when we arrived in New York, said that you were some annoying kid that talks too much. Thought they were exaggerating.”  
  
“Battlestar and Paladin? The Wild Pack?” Spider-Man grabbed Firearm’s right arm to restrain him. “You know them? And since when does Battlestar talk. He barely makes a sound.”  
  
“He talks to U.S. Agent. They use to be partners before they joined different teams. Doesn’t mean they still can’t make contact.”  
  
“Contact,” Spider-Man kicked Firearm away from him, “just like that right?”  
  
Firearm shook it off and relit his gauntlets.  
  
Spider-Man crossed his arms, “so...can those fancy gloves do anything else. With a name like Firearm, I’d expect you to have more projectile weapons.”  
  
“Kid, my master trained me in the styles of K'un-L'un and many other martial arts!” Firearm yelled, “you don’t want any of this.”  
  
 _‘Oh, I’m beginning to think that U.S. Agent guy sent the wrong one to fight me,’_ Spider-Man got ready for Firearm as the latter ran towards him.  
  


* * *

  
Ghost-Spider could tell that without even having met Captain America that U.S. Agent was nothing compared to him. He dressed the part, but his fighting style was off from footage Ghost-Spider has seen of the Avenger. Her father was a fan of the Captain.  
  
U.S. Agent smirked as Ghost-Spider landed across from him, “you and _your son_ are more skilled than I expected _Spider-Woman_. I assumed that both you would be just like Spider-Man from the reports I read about him from the Avenger’s files.”  
  
“One: Spider-Boy’s isn’t my son, pretty sure we’re the same age. Two: We all kick butt in our own amazing ways. And three: The name is _Ghost-Spider_ you Captain America wannabe!”  
  
“I’m a Captain America wannabe,” U.S. Agent eyed her costumes, “now isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”  
  
“It’s like I said,” Ghost-Spider jumped up and shot some web-balls at U.S. Agent, “us spiders fight in our own ways instead of trying to be a mirror of someone else.”  
  
U.S. Agent scoffed and tossed his shield. Ghost-Spider pulled herself to the ground by pulling herself down with a web-line. However, the shield came back like a boomerang. Luckily, she saw it and barely ducked away due to her lack of spider-sense. She noticed that instead of a star the shield’s symbol was an eagle and that the shield itself was metallic instead of vibranium. Made sense, since it would be hard for a criminal to get a vibranium shield.  
  
Ghost-Spider shot a web at U.S. Agent, he yanked out it and she was pulled toward him feet first. She was counting on that and form to put his shield up. With all of her momentum, she kicked the shield into him and knocked him on his back. She jumped off of him, flipped, and landed on the ground. She chuckled at the dent she put in his shield.  
  
U.S. Agent got back up, growled at his shield, and took out a photogenic sword.  
  
“Since when does Captain America use a sword?” Ghost-Spider questioned.  
  
U.S. Agent smirked, “what’s the matter Spider-Woman, afraid of my little stick? You’re the one who gave me the idea to be different.”  
  
Suddenly, the sword was yanked from U.S. Agent’s hand by another web line.  
  
Spider-Boy jumped up and kicked it into a nearby lake, “Not liking how you called that thing your little stick. And Ghost-Spider’s right, Cap doesn’t use swords.”  
  
“Wysper, why haven’t you taken down this kid?” U.S. Agent asked his partner,  
  
Wysper appeared from the trees, “give me a break! This kid more skilled than he looks.”  
  
“Thanks to Spider-Man—” Spider-Boy jumped and did a pirouette, landing on the tip of his toes, “and some ballet lessons I took a few years back.”  
  
“So you’re done hopping around and gonna dance through this fight now?” Wysper tossed some of her flying-disks towards Spider-Boy. “Twirl those webs of yours like a pretty pink ribbon.”  
  
Spider-Boy smirked, “I could…” He jumped toward the disks, doing a head-first twirl, shooting a stream, collecting the disks while wrapping the webs into a bag, Then he tossed the web-bag at Wysper knocking her down. “...but I need to practice my weaving skills.”  
  
Wysper sat up and pointed her wrists at Spider-Boy. The little mechanisms on her wrists glowed a light-blue, but Spider-Boy covered both of them in webbing which caused them to implode.  
  
“Why you—” Spider-Boy shot a web at her mouth and then webbed her arms and legs to the ground.  
  
“Now you are whispering,” with his opponent down Spider-Boy turned to U.S. Agent and Ghost-Spider.  
  
U.S. Agent used his shield to block Ghost-Spider’s punches and kicks, then on her last kick, he used it to push her back. She still landed on okay, skidding back a little on the turf.  
  
“Your not bad kid, but I’ve been trained by the guys who went up against the Avengers. Ever heard of Crossbones?”  
  
“Yep, and I kicked his butt before Spider-Man, Black Widow, and I defeated him and other members of H.Y.D.R.A.”  
  
“Care to put your money where mouth—” again U.S. Agent felt another item his yanked from his grasp.  
  
Spider-Boy landed next to Ghost-Spider, with U.S. Agents shield around his arm, “meh, I think Cap’s shield is better.”  
  
“I’ll show you what my shield can do that that old man’s can—” U.S. Agent’s mouth and eyes were webbed by Ghost-Spider. When he uncovered he was given his shield back, but instead being placed into his hands it was handed to his face.  
  
The faux Captain America was out cold, but Ghost-Spider and Spider-Boy webbing him up just to be safe. The two spiders stood over him and Wysper.  
  
“I pretty sure Crossbones went down the same way too,” Ghost-Spider turned to Spider-Boy, “nice job Spider-Boy!”  
  
“Right back at yeah!” He high fived her back, “And I happened to catch a few glimpses of your fight with U.S. Agent. Ballet too?”  
  
Ghost-Spider placed her hands on her hips, “I like to have multiple hobbies.”  
  
The two heard a groaning sound and saw Firearm on top of U.S. Agent. Spider-Man landed nearby and walked toward Ghost-Spider and Spider-Boy.  
  
“Nice job Web-Warriors, up high!”  
  
Spider-Boy high fived Spider-Man, but Ghost-Spider crossed her arms.  
  
“Web-Warriors?” She asked.  
  
“Yeah, I think that’s a good candidate for a team name. What do you think?”  
  
“I’m sticking to _Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Team_.”  
  
Spider-Man turned to Spider-Boy, “What do you think Spider-Boy.”  
  
“Web-Warriors does have a more professional ring to it.”  
  
Ghost-Spider whispered something to him. Spider-Boy placed the tip of his finger to his lips.  
  
“Well, Web-Warriors does sound a bit childish….”  
  
Spider-Man looked at Ghost-Spider, who only shrugged her shoulders. When their defeated foes began making noises Spider-Man walked over to them.  
  
“So any of you want to explain why you were kidnapping innocent people in Central Park?”  
  
“Wanna explain why a bunch of kids care about disgusting dirtbags who choose to live in parks?” U.S. Agent shot back.  
  
“The only dirtbag here are you three,” Spider-Boy stated.  
  
“And not everyone here chooses to live this way,” Ghost-Spider crossed her arms, “some times they have no there choice.”  
  
“But you three had a choice to do better when you put on those suits,” Spider-Man said, “maybe you’ll have time to think about them while you’re behind bars.”  
  
“Oh, can I do it this time?” Spider-Boy dug his hand into his pocket.  
  
“Do what?” Wysper asked.  
  
“Just a little note for the police,” Spider-Man chuckled as Spider-Boy placed a sticky note on the webbing.  
  
It read:  
  
 _—From your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Team_.  
  
With a drawing od Spider-Man, Ghost-Spider, and Spider-Boy.  
  


* * *

  
After leaving Central Park, Spider-Man and Spider-Boy decided to pick-up where their afternoon lunch left off, now with the addition of Ghost-Spider joining them. Spider-Man made a call to Iron Man, just wanting to tell him about some guy going around impersonating Cap is in police custody in case the Avengers might know who he is. When that didn’t work he tried Ms. Marvel, but both of them were busy at the moment.  
  
“I still can’t believe you have Ms. Marvel and Iron Man in your contacts,” Spider-Boy said. “I’ve heard rumors that you and Ms. Marvel—”  
  
“Just hang out from time to time,” Spider-Man chuckled. “We just hang out.”  
  
“Without inviting your Spider-Friends,” Ghost-Spider said while bumping Spider-Man with her shoulder.  
  
“Hey now, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day you all meet her and then we meet her friends and have some epic team-up,” Spider-Man said, “but those two numbers are strictly for emergencies.”  
  
“Speaking of team-ups,” Spider-Boy turned to Ghost-Spider, this time initiating the fist bump, “it’s was awesome working with you Ghost-Spider.”  
  
She connected her fist with his, “back at ya! Did you think about our conversation from earlier?”  
  
Spider-Boy smiled, “maybe those abilities will be helpful in the future, but for right now Scream and are okay being able to do whatever a spider can.”  
  
“Abilities?” Spider-Man asked.  
  
“I was thinking since Scream might be able to do what the V-252 was capable of why not use those powers for good,” Ghost-Spider explained, “maybe we could even experiment and make her—”  
  
“Wait, Ghost-Spider,” Spider-Boy interrupted her, “I rather not do any experiments on Scream, at least not after what she may have been through at the Life Foundation.”  
  
“Oh, of course. It’s totally your call.”  
  
“Well it looks like the sun will be setting soon and I’ve got places to go and rooftops to patrol,” Spider-Man said as turned the other direction, “I’ll catch you two later.”  
  
“Before I leave too Ghost-Spider, can I ask you a question?” Spider-Boy grabbed a notebook from where Scream opened his costume.  
  
“Sorry, I don’t give my phone number out like that.”  
  
“Oh, no I was going to ask what inspired you to become a hero.”  
  
“What inspired me?”  
  
“Yeah,” Spider-Boy rubbed his shoulder, “I know it’s a little embarrassing, but I wanted to make like this hero journal in case I would meet anyone while working with Spider-Man and he told me his reasons for becoming a hero. So I thought I’d ask other heroes if they would be okay with it.”  
  
“You expect to reach another 98 pages worth of heroes?” Ghost-Spider asked.  
  
Spider-Boy shrugged his shoulders, “you never know if you don’t try.”  
  
Ghost-Spider chuckled at that, “Okay then...”  
  


* * *

  
“We...we failed the mission, sir. If it wasn’t for those Spider-Kids—”  
  
“No need for apologizes, soldier, no need at all.”  
  
U.S. Agent, Firearm, and Whysper were caught off guard by Drake’s relaxed demeanor.  
  
Drake stood from his chair and approached the trio, “the task was complete.”  
  
Whysper raised her hand, “but we never—”  
  
“Yes, I asked the three of you to go down to that Central Park and capture any of those urchins taking up space in that area. I could go off on the three of you in a fit of rage and claim that you have failed…”  
  
Drake clapped his hands. Three men entered his office and each held a sack of money.  
  
“But why would I do that when the three of you have helped me achieve my goal for today. Thanks to you three dealing with Spider-Man and his sidekicks Treece was able to turn back around and capture those street nomads wandering Central Park.”  
  
“Well good for you!” Firearm swiped the sack from one of the men. “And good for us!”  
  
“So you’re okay with the results?” U.S. Agent asked.  
  
“It’s like I said soldier, I could get furious at the three of you, but what would that accomplish? We reached a conclusion, and I am satisfied with it no matter what steps it took to achieve it,” Drake lit a cigar and smirked, “but I’m not this kind all the time.”  
  
U.S. Agent nodded and accepted the sack of money handed to him.  
  
“Before you all leave I would like to discuss employment opportunities,” Drake said.  
  
“We’re mercenaries,” Firearm stated.  
  
Drake nodded, “I am aware of that and with that in mind I would like you three _and you’re other three members_ to provide your services to Life Foundation. A freelance position rather than long-term employment.”  
  
U.S. Agent looked at Firearm and Whysper. Then he looked back at Drake. “My associates and I will have to discuss it with the rest of our team.”  
  
“Of course, I’m in rush right now. As I said, you helped me plenty already,” Drake walked back to his desk and took a seat. “Do you know your wait or do I need to ring up someone?”  
  
“I think we got it from here,” U.S. Agent walked toward the door with Whysper and Firearm behind him.  
  
Drake went back to his computer after he was left alone. He continued work on a draft mail whose recipient was none other than Anna Maria Marconi. It was a project for the school and he knew that she would approve of it, for he only had to use the right words.  
  
 _This will be a project that even the self-proclaimed geniuses at Horizon High were unable to conclude._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to look around and read comics to get information on the Jury. Since they were important in Venom's original comics I wanted to use them in Song's, Spiders, and Symbiotes. U.S. Agent wasn't in the original group seen in the Venom comic, but I thought it would be interesting to have a Captain America knockoff in a group of people using bootleg Iron Man armor. Ironically, I didn't know The Jury's armor was actually stolen Stark tech until after I finished the chapter.
> 
> Drake's planning something, and it'll be revealed when Midtown High reopens.
> 
> Like I mentioned before, Gwen is outright friendly towards Spider-Boy and is really interested in Scream. She wants to run tests on Scream, for her own curiosity and to see if they could do something about Scream's weakness to sonic's since Venom became immune to sounds. It all comes down to what Scream wants, which Gwen respects.
> 
> This Sunday the last episode of Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom will air, and it will feature the debut of the symbiote sisters: Scream, Scorn, and Mania. Before then they were introduced in a video that gave the symbiotes of Marvel's Spider-Man an origin and even introduced Knull into the animated series. Basicallly there were four sisters that helped to create the symbiote race by bonding with an alien species. All-Black was the fourth sister and was killed by an alien who rejected the symbiotes. Venom and another symbiote creature were created from All-Black's remains.
> 
> I really like that origin for the symbiotes and I'm gonna try to incorporate it into Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes. Though the concept of the Symbiote Sisters will be different, and will include "Symbiote Brothers".


	6. Never Meet Your Spider-Hero

**“Citizens of New York, I apologize for ignoring a topic that has been known since last year. My reporters at the Daily Bugle have reported on this topic before, but I have not. Why you may ask? Because it is a case of corrupting our youth! And do you want to know who is corrupting our youth? None other than that wall-crawling menace: SPIDER-MAN! He’s gone and found a few people who have powers just like his and has gone and formed a team of spider-people. One Spider-Man is enough, why do we need as many as we have now? And where did these other spider-people come from? Are they breeding? Why aren’t the Avengers or the police putting a stop to this!?”**  
  
Miles and Gwen chuckled as video clips of their fight with Scorpion and Tinkerer played on the monitor in Horizon High’s cafeteria. Gwen was still surprised that no one could tell that was her. It was one of her usual outfits, blue jacket, and navy jeans, just with the hood of her jacket covering her head. She was even more surprised that no one has made any Ghost-Spider/Spider-Gwen connections. Exact same suit, but now she was wearing a mask. Were people really that oblivious?  
  
Anya joined them at the table. She was about to ask what was new until she looked at the NEWS footage herself. Now it was playing the day after the _Spider-Team’s_ fight with Scorpion and Tinkerer; when they stopped a bank robbery because Peter...was trapped in the body of the Living Brain robot. Then a clip of Spider-Man and Spider-Boy fighting Panda-Mania and Hippo. She frowned and Gwen noticed.  
  
“What’s wrong Anya?”  
  
“Do you guys really think we can trust this _Spider-Boy_?” She air quoted when she said Spider-Boy.  
  
“I was nervous about his symbiote, but honestly he checks out okay,” Miles admitted, “he talks about music a lot, and none of my favs, but he’s a nice guy.”  
  
“I agree,” Gwen said looking back at the monitor, “and his symbiote is really cute. He really cares about her.”  
  
“ _Her_?” Anya asked.  
  
“Yeah, her name’s Scream remember?”  
  
Miles crossed his arms, “I still don’t understand why he would name it Scream.”  
  
Gwen chuckled, “she chose a walkman that had that painting called _The Scream_ as a cover for it. And apparently she liked the name scream.”  
  
“Okay, that’s another thing I don’t understand,” Miles said as he took a bite of his sandwich, “why would anyone want to use a walkman when we Stark Phones and Stark Pods?”  
  
“It’s a walkman model from 2010. It has touch screen capabilities and other features like a smartphone,” Gwen explained, “and he likes being able to mod it.”  
  
“You can mod a smartphone,” Miles smirked.  
  
“And then you lose the built-in security and can’t send it in for repairs,” Gwen said.  
  
“True, true,” Miles admitted.  
  
Anya crossed her arms, “I don’t know. I think you guys, especially Peter, are accepting him into our team too quickly. I mean another spider just happens to appear, and his powers are not like ours. What if someone is trying to take Peter out again?”  
  
“Honestly,” Miles thought it over, “I don’t think they would have gone this far with trying to earn his trust or _our_ trust for that matter. Remember that Peter’s enemies either aren’t aware of us or they forget that another spider also kicked their butt royally. Spider-Boy knew who we were.”  
  
Gwen smiled and leaned toward Anya, “and he is actually a huge fan of a certain spider.”  
  
“I could tell by how he dabbed with Peter just now,” Anya said. Gwen rolled her eyes at her friend missing the joke. “What?”  
  
“Nothing,” Gwen said, “but you know what Anya, you should definitely work with him the next time he goes swinging with Peter. Midtown High’s going to reopen soon so they’re daily lessons are going to end soon.”  
  
Anya played with the straw in her cup, “maybe.” A thought came to her, “did he tell either of you why he called himself _Spider-Boy_ and why he’s wearing an inverted version of my costume?”  
  
Gwen smiled, “the certain spider I mentioned early was not Peter.” She tried not to grin when it Anya a while to catch her hint. Miles on the other hand laughed.  
  
“That doesn’t make me like any better you know,” Anya said flatly.  
  
“Think about it like this, you inspire him,” Miles said.  
  
“For the wrong reasons,” Anya said.  
  
“Not really,” Gwen said, “sure he thinks you’re beautiful, amazing, and have the voice of an angel, but what Spider-Boy admires about you is your bravery, intellect, and courage.”  
  
“He actually said that?” Anya asked.  
  
“Yep,” Gwen said.  
  
Gwen and Anya’s phones went off. It was an alert reminding the girls that they signed up to help Max with showing around new students who will potentially attend Horizon after the open house.  
  
“Well it looks like we’re needed,” Gwen said. “I’ll be showing around a girl named Benji.”  
  
“And I’ll be giving a tour to a Dominic D. Washington,” Anya thought about the name “Why does that sound familiar?”  
  
“That’s Peter’s friend from Midtown,” Miles said, “the guy he introduced to at Grand Central.”  
  
“And the same boy who was trapped with us while we fought the Wild Pack,” Gwen said.  
  
“Right...I remember now,” Anya recalled when he asked for a selfie with her. It was her first time doing anything like that.  
  
Gwen used to do it a lot when she was _Spider-Gwen,_ which was the only time anyone wanted selfies with a spider-hero. Anya did search for the post, using _Spider-Girl_ as a search term since she didn’t remember Dominic’s name or face at the time. She was happy to see the photo on his social media account and that the text on the post mentioned how awesome it was to meet a hero. Anya wouldn’t be surprised if most people would post something... _perverse_. She admired that Dominic was honest in his post. It showed that he respected others’ feelings, a maturity many people lacked nowadays.  
  


* * *

  
Dominic held his arm. He was across the street from Horizon High, and it was bigger than it looked in the brochure. Comparing it to a college campus was an insult to the school, it looked like a research facility...which it is too. A little overwhelming from the worm’s eye view, or maybe in this case a spider’s eye views. The joke helped Dominic to ease up.  
  
 _‘Different than the Life Foundation…’_ He heard Scream murmur, _‘...more lively.’  
  
‘Nervous?’_ Dominic asked.  
  
 _‘No…’_ Her voice echoed in his mind, _‘...curious. Are you nervous?’_  
  
Dominic smiled, _‘a little.’_  
  
Scream slithered from his backpack and formed a jacket over his shirt. She could see Dominic looking around, and then he patted her on his shoulder. Feelings were still new to the symbiote, but she understood this made Dominic feel...calm. Before she knew it Dominic was already on Horizon’s grounds. People were skateboarding, flying kites, or eating lunch, outside. She heard Dominic thinking, saying that if anyone at Midtown ever thought about skating on campus Principal Davis would confiscate their board.  
  
Dominic entered the school and walked toward the receptionist’s desk. There was no one at the desk, but his and someone named Benji’s visitors passes was on the table. He checked his phone for the time and he was only ten minutes early. Did no one else besides him and this Benji person sign up for the tour?  
  
A few students passed by in the lobby. Dominic asked them about the tour, but they didn’t hear him or were caught up in their own conversations. He leaned against the receptionist’s desk and twiddled his fingers as more students passed by, oblivious to his presence. Looking at his phone again...only two minutes have gone by.  
  
 _‘Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give myself a private tour…’_  
  
Dominic shoved his hands into pockets and casually flowed with the crowd. He broke away from them after noticing some display cases. Trophies, of course for scientific achievements by scientists at the school. There was a display case for their team, _The Horizon High Circuit Breakers_ , but no trophy. If remembering correctly, they have a game against Midtown High after the Forest Hill school reopens again.  
  
Another display had a picture of students from each school year. Dominic found a picture of Peter and his friends from the previous year. It looked like they were having some fun at Coney Island. It reminded Dominic on when Midtown High participated in ditch day and everyone went the island, except for Liz who had a reputation to uphold as Student Body President. Honestly, Dominic thought it was a half-day and followed the crowd, which did not keep his father for grounding him.  
  
 _‘Dominic, can we look at the display behind us?’_ Scream asked.  
  
 _‘Sure, you see something interesting?’  
  
‘Something familiar…’_  
  
Dominic was about to ask why until he saw the display. It was a newspaper headline: Mysterious Substance from Space donated to Horizon High from the Space Administration. Plans to make it a new element on the periodic table.  
  
 _‘V-252...Venom…’ Scream muttered.  
  
‘You okay Scream?’_ Dominic asked.  
  
 _‘Yes. The paper just caught my attention is all. Just curious.’_  
  
Dominic read more of the article. _‘The substance, labeled the V-252 by Horizon, was founded by the Space Administration near the Duncan Valley exit on the outskirts of New York.’  
  
‘So this V-252 or Venom symbiote was founded that far out of the city?’  
  
‘It would appear so.’_  
  
Dominic continued. _‘The V-252 substance was found by the Space Administration leaking from the remains of a meteorite.’  
  
‘Does any of this mean anything Scream?’  
  
‘Only that Venom arrived on Earth on a meteorite. My species are from space, but my origin is a laboratory. I...I have vague memories of my people, but I don’t know the origin of this article or Venom that thoroughly.’_  
  
Dominic held his shoulders, hugging Scream. He scanned the article again for any more interesting tidbits. He noticed one detail that he missed. The article’s real title was ALIEN OOZE ALIVE? Moreover, the date of publication was sometime after last year’s Stark Expo.  
  
“Enjoying the tour?”  
  
“Yeah,” Dominic didn’t realize someone was talking to him. “It’s been pretty good so far.”  
  
“That’s great! Mind if I ask you a question?”  
  
“Sure.”  
  
“Now, how is that you are enjoying the tour, without a tour guide?”  
  
Dominic opened his mouth, and then he realized that wasn’t Scream he was talking too. He turned around to see two girls looking at him. One just smiling and the other with an annoyed look. He opened his mouth to say something—  
  
“I’ll tell you how,” the annoyed girl walked up to him, “because your not.”  
  
“I’m not?” He asked.  
  
“Of course not,” she backed away from him and placed her hands on her hips, “you’re not enjoying the tour because you’re not on a tour.”  
  
Dominic blinked.  
  
“She’s you’re a tour guide,” the other girl smirked.  
  
“Oh...oh!” Dominic chuckled nervously. He was about to repeat what she said out of nervousness until he noticed something familiar about both girls. “Are you two friends...friends of Peter Parker?”  
  
“I told you he’d remember us, Anya.”  
  
“Yeah, whatever. I owe you a smoothie. Don’t you have someone to meet yourself?”  
  
The blonde girl, Gwen as Dominic recalled, walked away from the two to go and find the student she was giving a tour too. Anya turned back to Dominic when she left, and he went back smiling nervously.  
  
“So…,” Dominic held his arm, “Anya. Anya. Do you spell that as A **ñ** a or Anya?”  
  
“Okay you’re nervous from being caught,” She chuckled, “let’s get a move on before you ask any more questions.”  
  
“That would be nice,” Dominic smiled.  
  
“And to answer that question I spell my name as Anya, but my the actual spelling is Aña.”  
  


* * *

  
Minutes later, the humorous introduction was a memory.  
  
Dominic relaxed when Anya showed him the Think Tank and student labs. Then he started asking questions, which she liked. Questions made tours feel less one-sided, less like a lecture. She had to admit that his questions caught her by surprise. Most students already had a good idea about Horizon or they were aspiring scientists and knew that the school focused on STEM courses. They wanted to get a jump-start on building the next big gadget and have their name on the map.  
  
Anya found Dominic’s questions an interesting change of pace. She admired him questioning what made Horizon different from other schools and the question of student individuality. He brought up how a few teachers from Midtown are not big fans of Horizon. It was something Peter mentioned before. She smiled when Dominic reassured that he didn’t think of Horizon or any of the students that way, mentioning that he’s seen a few of them at Midtown before. And that herself, Peter, Miles, Gwen, are the exact opposite of how Midtown describes Horizon.  
  
An eyebrow was raised when Dominic said that Anya looked nothing like a nerd, to which he immediately took back and said that he meant she wasn’t stuck up or an _egghead_ as many people liked to describe Horizon. She hated remarks like that on the school, but Anya said that no one at Horizon lets comments like those get to them. She doesn’t know why the Midtown teachers want to focus on a rivalry with Max and Horizon when they could spend that energy getting sponsors and donations for science equipment. She doesn’t really care why they can’t get science equipment in the first place. Instead of spending her time trying to figure out Midtown, she spends it making her projects and working to her goal of being a scientist...and maybe starting up her own business.  
  
When she was in junior high, many students laughed at Anya for having a dream like that. They made fun of her and told her many reasons why she could never become a scientist, let alone own her own business. Many of which...hit hard. Her parents words, “that no matter where you’re from, you’re dreams are valid. That you can change the world by being yourself. No one else defines you, but.”  
  
That made Dominic smile. It was a true statement and a good one. It reminded him of why he loved music despite what many have told him in the past. He was reminded of his mom’s words about not letting others put you or your dreams down.  
  
Anya decided to show him four more things before bringing the tour to an end. The Horizon High Arc Reactor that powers the school (donated by Tony Stark of course). The Hardlight Hologram Training Room, a project spearheaded by herself, Miles, and Gwen to help police officers train against supervillains. She rolled her eyes when Dominic compared it to a virtual reality videogame. After that was the Zero-Gravity room. Because he was a visitor and not a student, Dominic couldn’t use it without Anya and the other Horizon students in the room. But if he gets accepted into Horizon it was going to be the first place he visits.  
  
“Ready to have your mind blown?” Anya asked as she led Dominic back to the Think Tank.  
  
“I think my mind my blown after seeing that Zero-Gravity room,” He smiled.  
  
Anya poked his shoulder, “well this is more literal than just a figure of speech. I...I really shouldn’t be doing this, but you a friend of Peter’s and I can tell you have good character.”  
  
“Well, thanks.”  
  
“But you have to promise not to mention this anywhere, at all,” Anya stated, “and I’ll pinch if you laugh at the name.”  
  
“What’s the name?”  
  
“The Polyphasic Remote Neural Net Dual Transponder, or _Polly_ for short.”  
  
Dominic turned away from her and covered his mouth. Then he yelped after feeling her fingers squeeze his skin.  
  
“What I say?” She smirked.  
  
Dominic muttered about how he didn’t laugh, but he still let a smile show as he continued down the hall with her. They heard some noise coming from the Think Tank.  
  
“It sounds like someone’s busy,” Dominic said.  
  
Anya smiled, “that’s a good thing. You get the chance to see someone in action.”  
  
One of Miles’ security bots was thrown out of the Think Tank and would have hit Anya and Dominic if they hadn’t run to the side. There were deep scratches into the metal.  
  
Anya and Dominic ran into the room. Standing before them was a rat...a big rat wearing a torn-up jacket and shredded jeans. The two were stunned until the rat turned around and looked at them. Anya noticed it was holding an object in its claws.  
  
“The Polly!”  
  
The rat roared and lunged toward the two of them. Both ran toward opposite directions with the rat fixated on Anya.  
  
 _‘Dominic, should we run and become Spider-Boy?’_ Scream asked.  
  
Dominic picked up a pole lying on the ground. _‘We can’t leave that thing with Anya. We make chase us, then we’ll sneak into a bathroom or somewhere and change.’_  
  
Dominic brought the pole down the rat’s back, gaining its attention. It roared at him and Dominic took off toward the door after it chased him. He looked back to make sure it wasn’t turning back toward Anya. It wasn’t. Dominic did catch a glimpse of Anya and she was more than worried about the rat chasing him now.  
  
After turning a corner, the rat jumped on the wall, jumped off it, and over Dominic. He tried to maneuver around the creature, but it blocked his path like a pit-bull guarding its territory.  
  
“Nice rat monster…” Dominic backed away slowly, “I might have an extra apple slice in my backpack—”  
  
The rat roared and raised its paw. It was about to swipe at Dominic until webbing covered it’s paw.  
  
Dominic was about to ask if that was Scream until another voice filled the area.  
  
“Didn’t know Horizon had lab rats,” Spider-Girl shot a web, blinding the rat. Then she shot a stream and swung around the rat, restraining it like a real spider would another insect. She even crawled around it to ensnare it with another layer of webbing. “That should hold it—”  
  
The rat flailed around.  
  
“—for a minute or two…” Spider-Girl turned to Dominic. “...hey! You’re that kid who asked for a selfie the other day.”  
  
“Yeah…” Dominic smiled, his face heating up. Then remembered Anya, “my friend Anya! She’s—”  
  
“Okay!” Spider-Girl looked around and grabbed a trophy from one of the stands. She sighed and then tossed it out of a window through the glass. Turning back to Dominic, she notices he was confused by her action. She grasped his hand, noticing his face redding again, “can I ask you to do me a favor this time?”  
  
“Yes! I mean of course,” Dominic smiled.  
  
“Can you be brave for me?”  
  
“I can.”  
  
“Are you afraid of heights?”  
  
“Heights are afraid of me.”  
  
“Awesome, “Spider-Girl placed her arms on Dominic’s shoulder, “I’m going to through you out the window.”  
  
“Okay,” Dominic didn’t pay attention to Spider-Girl’s words until they sunk in, “wait, what was that last part.”  
  
Suddenly, Spider-Girl hoisted him, “don’t worry I’ve seen Spider-Man do this plenty of times...and I’ll owe you another selfie, kay?”  
  
“Kay—” as soon as Dominic answered he was thrown out the window. Before his back reached the ground, a web stuck to his stomach and stopped his fall. He bounced a little, but nothing hurt.  
  
 _‘I could have done that too…’_ Scream muttered.  
  
“I know you can and I know you wouldn’t have let anything happen to me,” Dominic smiled. “Now let’s go help out Spider-Girl!”  
  


* * *

  
Spider-Boy swung through the broken window and saw that the rat and Spider-Girl were nowhere to be found. Did they move their fight to a different location that quickly? He noticed a claw marking obscured by the corner wall and followed it.  
  
Running past everything that was damaged made Spider-Boy realize that Midtown might have one thing to be jealous of Horizon for. Horizon has had supervillain attacks many times, the last time a supervillain attacked Midtown the GYM was closed until the next semester...then the entire school caught on fire or blew up. Headlines never made that clear. However, stuff like this happens to Horizon and they can repair their school in no time. Spider-Boy—  
  
—saw a blur of black, white, hot pink, and green as he was knocked to the ground. Then there was the sound of a roar and possibly the side of the wall being knocked down.  
  


* * *

  
“Spider-Boy?” Ghost-Spider noticed that she and Spider-Girl were lying on his back.  
  
“Hey there…” Spider-Boy muttered, “I’m guessing the rat got away with the Polly huh?” He got up after he felt the two lift theirs heads from his back.  
  
“Well yeah, but—” Ghost-Spider was caught off by Spider-Girl.  
  
“How did you know about the Polly?” she asked.  
  
“There was a kid hanging on the side of the building...and he said that Spider-Girl was inside trying to get back this machine from a giant rat,” Spider-Boy smiled, “sorry I couldn’t get there in time to help. But I can now. After all three spiders are better than one.”  
  
“Yeah, but not in this case,” Spider-Girl walked toward the hole in the wall, “Ghost-Spider and I can handle this ourselves.”  
  
“Hold on a second Spider-Girl,” Ghost-Spider reached for her shoulder, “Spider-Boy’s been training with Spider-Man and... _Spider-Man_. I think he could learn a thing or two from us...well you since he’s worked with me before.”  
  
Spider-Girl turned around, “he’ll just get in the way, and this isn’t the time for training.”  
  
“He won’t get in the way,” Ghost-Spider argued.  
  
“Um, I could just leave if—” Spider-Boy jumped when both girls cut him off.  
  
“We couldn’t get into contact with either of the Spidey’s, remember?” Ghost-Spider told Spider-Girl.  
  
“I remember that someone said the two of us could handle anything on our own,” Spider-Girl said.  
  
“Seriously, I don’t want to be a third wheel, or whatever I am right now…” Spider-Boy began to turn around and walk away.  
  
“Spider-Boy you’re not a third wheel,” Ghost-Spider had an idea, “as a matter of fact, you’re taking lead!”  
  
“Say what!” both Spider-Boy and Spider-Girl yelled in unison.  
  
Ghost-Spider tossed Spider-Boy a web-shooter-like device. “I snuck a spider-tracer on that rat. It’ll show us exactly where our trash-eating friend is heading.”  
  
Spider-Boy pressed a button on the device and a holographic map pop-up. The rat was still on the move. Scream wrapped her tendrils around Dominic’s wrist, instinctually, and the device changed.  
  
“What did you do to it?” Spider-Girl asked as she and Ghost-Spider noticed the map change.  
  
“Scream, my symbiote, latched onto it,” Spider-Boy looked at the dot that represented the rat, “and I think she improved its radar.  
  
 _‘The creature is heading for the sewers, but not through a street manhole. Somewhere inside of subway station’_ Scream said.  
  
“Looks like our rat is heading for the subway,” Spider-Boy said, looked back at the map,  
  
“Well then, lead the way SB,” Ghost-Spider said.  
  
Spider-Boy nodded. He walked toward the hole in the wall, looking at Spider-Girl for a brief second before swinging out of it. Before she could follow him Spider-Girl was stopped by Ghost-Spider.  
  
“ _Anya_ , talk to me,” Ghost-Spider pleaded, “why are you acting like this toward Spider-Boy?”  
  
“I’m being defensive,” Spider-Girl answered.  
  
“There’s being defensive and there’s being rude,” Ghost-Spider placed her hands on Spider-Girl’s shoulders, “Anya, like it or not, Spider-Boy’s going to be around since we do have to keep an eye on him and his symbiote, but you’re antagonizing him. You’re treating him like he’s waiting for the right time to betray us to hurt Peter.”  
  
“I—”  
  
Ghost-Spider didn’t let Spider-Girl finished, “look I get it. A lot of crazy things have happened lately, the majority of it because of Ock, but we can’t just assume the worst in people who are trying to do good, whether or not they were originally evil or good.”  
  
Spider-Girl crossed his arms.  
  
“All I’m saying is that sometimes people are evil without you knowing it, and sometimes a person they admire pushes them down that road,” Ghost-Spider walked past Spider-Girl and swung after Spider-Boy.  
  
Spider-Girl sighed and moved toward the hole, but not before looking at her costume in a mirror.  
  
 _‘Sometimes a person they admire can push them down that road…’_ that sentence echoed in her mind before she swung off after her companions.  
  


* * *

  
Ghost-Spider was happy Spider-Man and Miles weren’t around to hear her jokes. They were just as bad as Spidey’s; all force and no leading into the pun. She only wanted to break the silence in front of her and behind her.  
  
The three spiders arrived at the subway tunnel. The signal from the trace grew larger as the spiders walked inside...and it stop when they came across two paths, one leading to the right and one leading to the left.  
  
“Definitely not my spider-sense giving me bad vibes right,” Spider-Boy said as he put the radar on stand by. “So which path do we go?”  
  
“Well, you can go down the right path while Ghost-Spider—” Spider-Girl heard the sound of a web sticking to an object repeatedly. She sighed and noticed Ghost-Spider was nowhere to be found, “—can go on her own and leave me here to accompany you. Let’s go…”  
  
“Right…” Spider-Boy held his arm and followed. her.  
  
And more silence. Only the sound water dripping and the possible subway rats echoed throughout the tunnel.  
  
 _‘This is different,’_ Scream wasn’t only taking notice of Spider-Boy’s emotions, but the atmosphere. The Spider- _Men_ and Ghost-Spider were...talkative. _‘Dominic said that Spider-Girl was nice like the other spiders…, but she remains distant. And Dominic feels...hurt? No...confused...sad. He doesn’t want to ask her questions, what inspired her to become a hero.’_  
  
Scream noticed that Spider-Boy was losing pace with Spider-Girl.  
  
 _‘According to those movies on Dominic’s video streaming account, the best way to break tension is to say something out of nowhere...I promised not to manipulate his actions...but he feels sad…’_  
  
“YOUR HAIR SMELLS LIKES STRAWBERRY’S!” Spider-Boy covered his mouth, _‘what did I just say?”_  
  
Spider-Girl looked back at him, over her shoulder, “uh...thanks.”  
  
Spider-Boy grinned at her, _‘I...I...Scream, was that you? Why did you make me say that?’  
  
‘Conversation starter...eases tension…’  
  
‘I’m not tense!’  
  
‘...you’re shouting your thoughts.’  
  
‘I’m not shouting my thoughts. That’s not even possible...I think.’  
  
‘I’m hearing them as shouts…’  
  
‘Okay, sorry. But why did you make me say that?’  
  
‘Because you’re not talking to Spider-Girl, you’re not becoming her friend. You’re not asking her what inspired her to become a hero.’  
  
‘She obviously doesn’t want to be bothered.’  
  
‘You’re inferring that…’  
  
‘She’s been distance since I’ve shown up.’  
  
‘Because you haven’t tried to reach out, right?’  
  
‘Scream—’_  
  
“Why are you holding my hand?” Spider-Girl asked with a glare Spider-Boy now noticed.  
  
He looked down at their hands and noticed that they were locked with each other. He let go immediately and smiled so bright his face was red.  
  
“I...I...I…,” Spider-Boy gulped nervously and said, “I was wondering why you wanted to become a hero!”  
  
That time he couldn’t blame Scream for what he said.  
  
“Why I wanted to become a hero?” Spider-Girl raised her eyebrow and her cowl move a bit when she did.  
  
“I...I guess I wanted to ask you that and I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing,” terrible excuse, but Spider-Boy hoped it was possible. “Sorry, it’s just I’ve felt like I’ve made a bad impression on you.”  
  
Spider-Girl crossed her arms, “Ghost-Spider said...she said that I may have been a little hard on you. And even though I don’t want to admit it she was right. It’s just that recently the four of us: me, Spider-Man, Ghost-Spider, and Mi—the other Spider-Man have been through a lot.”  
  
“Trust issues?” Spider-Boy could tell by her reaction that got it, “Ghost-Spider told me that a lot of people that you guys know have done somethings that have hurt you guys or people you know. Intentionally or unintentionally. Especially _The Octopus_.  
  
“Ock,” Spider-Girl corrected, “Ock, Doc-Ock; that’s what we call him.”  
  
“Trying to be chronologically correct,” Spider-Boy smiled, “but I promised both Spider- _Men_ and Ghost-Spider that Scream and I would never betray you guys?”  
  
Spider-Girl was about to ask who Scream was until said symbiote reformed into Spider-Boy’s hands. Spider-Girl winced until getting a look at Spider-Boy without the symbiote. His mask was a mask, but his civilian clothes were familiar. Like _recently_ familiar.  
  
“This is Scream, my symbiote,” Spider-Boy smiled.  
  
“Yeah...I remember now,” Spider-Girl said, “Ghost-Spider actually won’t stop talking about it...her?”  
  
“Scream doesn’t mind the pronouns, but it’s her.”  
  
“Ghost-Spider won’t stop going on about how cute she is,” Spider-Girl walked toward Spider-Boy slowly. She looked at Scream, “I’ll admit it, she has cute eyes.”  
  
Scream’s eyes formed a u-shaped and Spider-Boy translated, “that means thank you...and sometimes can I have more chocolate please.”  
  
“Chocolate?”  
  
“Symbiotes love the phenylethylamine in chocolate.”  
  
“You are aware that phenylethylamine is also in the human brain?”  
  
“I was after trying to find what foods contained it,” Spider-Boy looked down at Scream, “but I trust Scream enough to know that she wouldn’t feed off my brain. They actually don’t have too...they actually don’t have to do a lot of things, but they just do.”  
  
“Like what?” Spider-Girl was getting a little curious.  
  
“Perfect example: Venom,” Spider-Boy tried to make an evil grin with his mouth, “he doesn’t have to look like a monstrous version of Spider-Man, he doesn’t even need those fangs or that tongue or the claws. It’s just his and that Brock guy’s preference.  
  
Spider-Girl smirked and poked Spider-Boy’s shoulder, “so it was _your preference_ to wear an inverted version of my costume?”  
  
“Style copies style?” Spider-Boy felt his face heating up again. “Besides, you should see our _proto-suit_.”  
  
Scream formed around Spider-Boy’s entire body, re-creating the yellow, orange, blue, and black costume again.  
  
“Warm colors,” Spider-Girl noticed.  
  
Scream reformed Spider-Boy’s normal costume, “yeah. Thanks for not laughing like Spider-Man and...Spider-Man by the way.”  
  
Spider-Girl scoffed, “Spidey shouldn’t be laughing considering what his first suit looked like.”  
  
She recalled Spider-Boy’s question, “you asked why I wanted to be a hero, right?”  
  
“Yeah,” Spider-Boy was given his journal by Scream, “I asked both Spider-Men and Ghost-Spider their reasons. I know it’s a little fanboyish, but I’m truly curious and it would he with teaching Scream the meaning of being a hero.”  
  
Spider-Girl chuckled and turned around, not facing Spider-Boy. She didn’t believe her reason would compare to her friends, “I...I...I’m a hero because—”  
  
There was a loud thump. Spider-Girl turned around to see Spider-Boy out cold. Smoke was coming from his costume, well Scream. She could see part of his shirt exposed.  
  
“Spider-Boooo—” just like that she was electrocuted and hit the floor herself.  
  
The last she could hear, faintly, was a growly voice laughing.  
  


* * *

  
Spider-Girl woke up and tried to move around. Either she was in one of those dreams where the dreamer had no control over their body, or as reality would, unfortunately, reveal she was restrained to a table. She looked to her right to see Ghost-Spider and Spider-Boy in the same predicament. Ghost-Spider was awake, but Spider-Boy was still unconscious. Was it because his powers came from his symbiote?  
  
“Ghost-Spider?” Spider-Girl called to her, “what’s happening? Where are we?”  
  
Ghost-Spider was about to answer until a voice cut her off, “Now, now Spider-Girl, or should I say Anya Corazon? I believe my assumption is correct since this _Ghost-Spider_ is wearing the same exact costume my beloved niece wore when she was patient zero of my little virus.”  
  
Spider-Girl felt anger boiling inside of her. She knew hers did not compare to Ghost-Spiders. Standing before the two was the one responsible for Peter and Miles gaining his spider-powers, the reason Aleksei was turned into a Rhino multiple times, the reason New York became Spider-Island.  
  
More importantly, the reason Ghost-Spider, Gwen, lost the person she looked up to the most.  
  
The Jackal.  
  
In the corner running on a treadmill was the rat creature that attacked Horizon, and on a table was the Polly device.  
  
“So this is where you ran after you thought the bomb would blow us to kingdom come,” Spider-Girl stated. If he knew who they were, there was no point hiding it until Spider-Boy woke up.  
  
“What are your plans this time Jackal!” Ghost-Spider tried to break free of her restraints. “Turn people in different animal species this time around? Whose is that rat another victim of your experiments?”  
  
“A willing participant,” Jackal smirked, “and Gwendolyn, whatever happened to _Uncle Raymond_?”  
  
“Been asking myself the same question,” Ghost-Spider muttered.  
  
“Now the real question is how did you, Ms. Corazon, and your friend over there regain your powers from Spider-Island?” Jackal scratched his chin as he circled the three of them. “Everyone in New York lost their arachnid abilities, save for three teenagers. A little suspicious if you ask me.”  
  
“Like we’d ever tell you!” Spider-Girl yelled and then felt goosebumps when Jackle stroked her hair.  
  
“That’s fine my dears, you don’t have to explain anything to me,” Jackal smirked. “I’ll figure out in due time.”  
  
“Huh? What’s going on?”  
  
Everyone saw that Spider-Boy had awakened. Jackal walked toward him with a smile that would make _The Grinch’s_ heart shrink a beat.  
  
“Just a little science experiment third Spider-Man,” Jackal stuck one of his nails under Spider-Boy’s mask.  
  
“H-Hey! What are you—” not that he could do anything, Spider-Boy gasped when Jackle peeled back his mask.  
  
Jackal raised his eyebrow, “hrm, not a face I recognize. No matter, you’re one of my spider-soldiers now that I have the Polly in my possession. And soon the other two Spider-Men will be in my army as well.”  
  
When Jackal left the three alone, Spider-Boy turned to Spider-Girl and Ghost-Spider. He could by their faces, especially Spider-Girl’s, that they were surprised to see a face reveal. Honestly, it wasn’t the reaction he dreamed of Spider-Girl having when she found out it would be him, given the situation.  
  
“Awkward...right?” Spider-Boy grinned.  
  
“Yeah,” Spider-Girl grinned back.  
  
“And if we don’t break free it’s going to be awkward why three friendly neighborhood spiders are suddenly New York’s next top supervillains,’ Ghost-Spider tried to break loose again, “I’m guessing he knows how strong Spider-Man is and made sure to compensate for our strength as well.”  
  
“If we could find a switch or something one of us could shoot a web-ball,” Spider-Girl suggested.  
  
“Or maybe Scream and I can do something?” Spider-Boy, _‘think you can find a switch to free us Scream?’  
  
‘I will try my best!’_  
  
Spider-Girl and Ghost-Spider watched as Scream slithered away from Dominic. The rat creature looked toward them, not seeing Scream, and went back to its giant water bottle.  
  
“Spider-Boy, I don’t know about this,” Ghost-Spider watched the Jackle, praying that he would not turn around.  
  
“Trust me, Scream’s got this,” Spider-Boy smiled.  
  
“Yeah GS, they’ve got this,” Spider-Girl smiled, surprising Ghost-Spider.  
  
Scream slithered over to a control panel. She looked to see what Jackle and the rat were doing. Jackal was inspecting the Polly while the rat was eating. Looking back the control panel, she slammed her tendril on a button.  
  
It turned on a display case showing the faces of various people appearing and disappearing.  
  
Ignoring that, she pressed another button. It released a table...with a body on it...the body of a person that was no breathing.  
  
And the table jabbed Jackle in his chest.  
  
“What in the—” He looked at the spiders and then at the control panel, noticing Scream. “What the devil is that?”  
  
The rat stopped what it was doing and looked at Scream. Jackal sighed as to how it didn’t notice this...this blob. Clearly, he did a number on the rats’ intelligence.  
  
Jackal reached for a needle, “let’s just give this thing an examination shall well!”  
  
Scream pressed every button on the panel in a frenzy. Lights flickered, machines roared, and it felt like an earthquake just occurred.  
  
When Jackal reached the control panel, he turned the lights back on, but Scream was nowhere near the dashboard.  
  
“Qui!”  
  
Jackal turned around to see the three spiders free of their restraints. He turned to his rat minion, “what are you waiting for!? Get the—”  
  
Jackal was webbing to his control panel.  
  
“Since jackals are a species of dog, we just taught you to sit,” Ghost-Spider quipped.  
  
The rat creature roared and ran towards the spiders. Spider-Boy ran toward it, ducked down, and rose with an uppercut to the rat’s bottom chin. Spider-Girl flipped over him and kicked the rat straight into the Jackle. When Jackal pushed the rat off of himself, his hand landed on a button.  
  
 **[Self-Destruct sequence initiated!]**  
  
“A Self-Destruct sequence!” Spider-Boy pulled on his mask, “I thought villains in cartoons only made those.”  
  
“Where do you think those idiots get their ideas from?” Spider-Girl asked.  
  
Jackal growled and pressed another button. A secret entrance appeared and he ran for it. The rat chased after him, but its tail got caught in the door as it closed.  
  
“Please tell me that one of you were conscious enough to have seen another exit,” Ghost-Spider hoped.  
  
Spider-Boy and Spider-Girl shook their heads, then Spider-Boy winced.  
  
“You two aren’t grossed out easily are you?” He asked.  
  
“If it can get us out of here alive then who cares,” Spider-Girl said.  
  
“If you got a plan let’s hear it like a second ago,” Ghost-Spider rushed.  
  
Spider-Boy sighed, “Just putting this out there, I’ve never done this before either…”  
  
Spider-Girl and Ghost-Spider were about to ask what he meant until symbiote tendrils pull the three together and wrapped around them…  
  


* * *

  
“Glad we’re alive, that brought back some unpleasant memories, but I’m glad we’re alive,” Ghost-Spider sat down on the edge of a rooftop. Spider-Girl sat down next to her while Spider-Boy plopped onto the ground with Scream in his arms. “Can you tell Scream we said thanks when she wakes up?”  
  
“Sure,” Spider-Boy smiled, then he recalled his unmasking by the Jackal. Not how he expected to reveal himself and it was kind of...underwhelming. But he needed to talk about it. He removed his mask, “so…”  
  
“Hey, your that kid who I keep running into in awkward situations,” Spider-Girl, “have you seen Spider-Boy?”  
  
Spider-Boy and Ghost-Spider chuckled at that.  
  
“I guess you can call me _fanboy_ instead of Spider-Boy. This isn’t how I expected to introduce myself at all. Spider-Man and I agreed to wait until you guys were comfortable around me, around Scream and I.”  
  
Spider-Girl stood and held her hand toward him, “well, it’s a pleasure to formally meet you _Dominic Washington_.”  
  
“You knew my name already?” He stuttered until Spider-Girl gave him a plain expression. “Right, our selfie. That sounds really embarrassing to say right now.”  
  
“Yeah well, it was embarrassing for me that I kind of shown my admiration for Spider-Man,” Spider-Girl crossed and sighed, but still smiled, “and then Ghost-Spider and I found out he was actually one of our best friends, who I was a little hard on for being a bit of a slacker and flake. Turns out it was because he was busy saving lives, including ours.”  
  
“You just have to realize that even under the mask, even when they try to hide their identity, that person is still the friend you always knew,” Ghost-Spider said.  
  
“And I’m guessing you guys are close since each of you tease each other a lot,” Dominic smiled.  
  
“You could say that,” Ghost-Spider chuckled.  
  
Spider-Girl placed her arm around him, “but I won’t forget how you turned red like a rose and got flustered.”  
  
“So we’re cool?”  
  
“We’re cool.”  
  
“And now we really are a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Team!” Ghost-Spider cheered.  
  
“It’s just too bad we didn’t get the Polly back though,” Spider-Girl reminded.  
  
“Oh yeah,” Ghost-Spider sighed, “another project we—we attempted to save for Horizon, and this time we failed.”  
  
“Or did we,” Spider-Girl and Ghost-Spider looked at Dominic as he stepped to the side. The Polly was behind him this entire time.  
  
“When did you—”  
  
Dominic cut Ghost-Spider off while pointing at Scream.  
  
“Good girl,” Ghost-Spider stroked the sleeping symbiote.  
  
Spider-Girl, to Dominic’s surprise, stroked Scream for a little while too. He picked up the Polly while holding Scream with his other hand, “I guess you two should be getting this back to Horizon now huh?”  
  
Spider-Girl and Ghost-Spider looked at each other and then smiled at Dominic.  
  
“We could, but it would probably make more sense for someone who attends the school to return the Polly,” Ghost-Spider said.  
  
“I don’t attend the school, well I sort of entered their open house to enroll there,” Dominic recalled Anya, “but a student was giving me a tour, I should go back and see if she’s okay.”  
  
“Pink polo shirt, hazel eyes, brown hair?” Spider-Girl asked, finding Dominic’s expression humorous, “she’s one of those Horizon students who help us out sometimes. She’s tough and she can definitely handle herself.”  
  
Dominic smiled, “yeah, she gives that impression.”  
  
Scream reformed Dominic’s costume.  
  
“And the sleeping beauty’s awake. Guess I’ll see you two swinging around?”  
  
“Guess you will,” Ghost-Spider.  
  
“Before you go, Dominic,” Spider-Girl stared him up and down, “may I suggest a costume change...and a name change?”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“So...you can be unique and make a name for yourself. Think about it. _Spider-Boy_ sounds like you’re living in my shadow.”  
  
Dominic smiled, “well style copies style.”  
  
“He’s got a point,” Ghost-Spider emphasized.  
  
“And that other Spider-Man copied the original Spider-Man,” Dominic reminded, “so there shouldn’t be a problem if—”  
  
Spider-Girl placed her hands on his shoulder and smiled, “please?”  
  
Dominic tucked in his lips and then answered, “I...I guess you do make a good point about being unique.”  
  
The two looked at Ghost-Spider who made a noise and turned around.  
  
“And you two definitely have some creative costumes,” Dominic smiled, “maybe you could critique any designs I come up with?”  
  
“Sure,” Spider-Girl said, “that was a team does right?”  
  
“Right,” Dominic nodded. He looked back at Ghost-Spider who waved him and decided it was time for him and Scream to make their leave.  
  
“To answer your question Dominic,” Spider-Girl called to him before he shot a web, “I never really saw myself as a superhero or any kind of hero. These powers...what made me decide to put on this suit and call myself Spider-Girl is that I wanted to help out my friends when I am able too.”  
  
Dominic smiled and said before swinging off, “well, that makes you a hero in my book Spider-Girl.”  
  
When Dominic was gone, Ghost-Spider elbowed Spider-Girl, who stood silently and smiled.  
  
“So I take it that my plan to leave the two of you alone worked,” Ghost-Spider said, feeling proud.  
  
Spider-Girl flipped her ponytail, “he was acting weird at first, but that question he asked me and then seeing his symbiote try to help us...yeah I guess your idea worked.”  
  
Ghost-Spider crossed her arms, “but now my uncle... _The Jackal_ is back. I know he escaped a year ago, but I thought maybe he wouldn’t be able to gain any more resources. Everything of his was destroyed at that secret lab of his underneath Midtown High.”  
  
Spider-Girl grasped Ghost-Spider’s hands, “we’ll stop him again Gwen.”  
  
“Thanks, Anya,” Ghost-Spider took out her phone, “I’ll see if I can get in touch with Peter and Miles while you head back to Horizon.”  
  
Spider-Girl was about to ask why until she realized Dominic was going back there to see if _Anya_ was okay.  
  


* * *

  
_‘Today was an interesting day,’_ Scream said as Dominic swung into Horizon High’s Think Tank. Scream reformed into his jacket.  
  
“Spider-Girl, Ghost-Spider, and I were about to get probed,” Dominic said as he placed the Polly on the only table that wasn’t snapped in half. “I wouldn’t call that interesting Scream.”  
  
 _‘But you and Spider-Girl are friends now.’_  
  
“Yeah, that’s a positive,” Dominic thought about their time in that tunnel, “but what were you doing controlling my body? Now I thought you said you weren’t going to do that.”  
  
 _‘...I was trying to up your game!”_  
  
Dominic was silent for a moment, then he started laughing. It was Scream’s delivery of that sentence. She must have remembered that line from a movie, he assumed.  
  
“I appreciate that Scream, but I think you still have somethings to learn before you try and be my wingman...wingwoman,” Dominic rubbed his chin, “plus I don’t like Spider-Girl like that…”  
  
 _‘Okay,’_ Scream simply answered, _“but why would does your heart flutter when thinking about...and why would I want to be a bird?’_  
  
“Dominic, thank goodness you’re okay!”  
  
Anya saved Dominic from giving Scream an explanation, not that he would be able to avoid it later.  
  
“Anya!” Dominic smiled, happy to see that she was okay as well. “I didn’t mean to give you a scare back there. I was just trying to get that creature away from you. Are _you_ okay?”  
  
“Yeah, nothing broken. I hope this doesn’t leave you with a negative view on Horizon.”  
  
Dominic scoffed, “please, a bald guy in a tank top with a wrecking ball almost brought down the gymnasium at Midtown High. Way scarier than that rat and I didn’t even flinch.”  
  
Anya rolled her eyes and then she noticed the Polly sitting on the only non-broken table, “the Polly? How did you ever get it back!?”  
  
“Well Spider-Girl actually saved my life...and then she tossed out the window and hung me by her spider-webs,” Dominic rubbed the back of his head, “Spider-Boy came along and he helped down and asked me to give the Polly back to Horizon High. He left before I could explain I wasn’t a student.”  
  
Anya grabbed the device off the table, “well I’m going to see if there’s a better place we can store it...which considering our luck is still unlikely.”  
  
“Then it’s a good thing Horizon has superheroes protecting the school,” Dominic said. “By the way, can we go to that Zero-Gravity Room?”  
  
Anya shook her head, “sorry one time visit, and our tour technically ended a long time ago.”  
  
“Well I guess I’ll see you around,” Dominic said as headed for the door, “thanks for the tour, Anya.”  
  
“Thanks for being a good tourist,” She replied, “and I can’t wait to work with you at Horizon.”  
  
“Same here,” Dominic smiled, holding his arm.  
  
When he finally left the Think Tank Anya leaned against the desk and sighed. This has been quite the day she did not foresee.  
  
 _‘Dominic Washington is Spider-Boy. Gosh Peter, you really have an effect on people.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't notice how long this chapter was compared to the previous ones until I finished it. A lot of events happening contributed to that.
> 
> Anya trusts Spider-Boy enough now to welcome him and Scream as a part of their team, especially that she and Gwen know he is Dominic now. Dominic still admires her as Spider-Girl, but he won't (or at least try not to) get flustered by her since now she and the others might joke with him about it. The scene with her and Dominic going on that tour was originally Anya sharing stories about her family, but I thought the scene was a bit bloated with the comparison between schools. Since Anya is the only character from the main cast whose family has not been explored in the show, I thought about keeping that for a later chapter where she and Dominic relate to each other.
> 
> The Jackal. I had plans for him in this story as the secondary villain before I knew he was going to return in Season 3. His relation with Gwen as her uncle in this series is one of my favorite things about Marvel's Spider-Man, and I wish it was explored more after she got her powers during Spider-Island and regained them from the bloodgem. Jackle being her uncle, it makes sense that he would be smart enough to figure out that Gwen is Ghost-Spider since the only change to her Spider-Gwen costume is a mask and web-wings. Him knowing Spider-Girl is Anya, she is his niece's best friend. The real question is if Jackal did anything to Gwen, Anya, and Dominic/Scream while they were unconscious?
> 
> Next chapter, Midtown High reopens...and is attacked again.


	7. A Taste of Venom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom aired the season finale last Sunday, and it was a good conclusion to a Spider-Man show I can say is one of my favorites. I don't know if it will have a fourth season, but the ending is a good setup for one or for a new series to start off from. I wish we could have gotten more time to see Anya and Gwen as Spider-Girl and Ghost-Spider, but it is what it is.
> 
> That being said, I'm still going to continue Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes and incorporate a few things from Maximum Venom into it, as you will see beginning in this chapter.

Humans were supposed to be the weakest lifeforms in the galaxy.  
  
This is what Venom assumed when he laid eyes on Earth for the first time. Instead, he found a planet full of advanced technology and _superheroes_. Especially the one called Spider-Man. Venom saw into his memories, how he was bullied and pushed around. Venom thought someone like that would appreciate power. Power is what had drawn him towards Spider-Man. Yet, the spider did not want to form a symbiotic relationship, he did not crave power. And now Venom was a mere lab experiment for these pathetic humans once again and stuck to this terrain trash known as Eddie Brock. Brock was weaker than the spider. No powers, just a hatred for the spiders other half that rivaled Venom’s own hatred for the spider himself.  
  
But besides that Brock was just a sad man who did not deserve to help Venom live out the destiny he was created to carry out. The destiny that was interrupted by those fools at Horizon High and of course, Spider-Man.  
  
 _I feel stronger than before. Those scientists did experiments on me. Have no clue that they improved me. But, still too weak to escape._ Venom banged his head on the capsule that contained him and the sleeping beauty Eddie Brock. He was able to put cracks in the glass, but he was able to break it just yet.  
  
“My my, the Space Administration has been very busy.”  
  
Venom turned his head to see a man in a business suit approached him. He didn’t look familiar, wasn’t wearing any of the lab coats from the Space Administration.  
  
 _This one reminds me of Osborn, the man who hated the spider and wanted to use me…_  
  
“Rest assured my alien companion, I simply want to work with you. But, I had no clue your kind could speak without bonding to a host.”  
  
Venom hissed, “scientists did experiments, made me stronger. And what do you mean your kind?”  
  
“Bond with me and find out,” the man smiled.  
  
“You want to bond with a symbiote?” Venom asked, “why?”  
  
“Because I get the feeling that our enemies intersect,” the man pressed a button on a control panel, opening the capsule. Without warning, he was suddenly engulfed by Venom. To the symbiotes surprise, this man known as Carlton Drake did not flench...and he had knowledge on the symbiotes. More than Max Modell, Horizon High, the Space Administration, and of course the Spider-Man.  
  
“You...have been creating more of my kind?”  
  
“Yes,” Drake answered, “unlike those commoners you see out there I actually believe that symbiosis is the next step in evolution. Your species have unique abilities V-252—”  
  
“Venom. V-252 is the name those fools gave me when they treated me as a lab experiment.”  
  
“Oh yes, Horizon High made you into a children’s science project,” Drake scoffed, “well, Venom, Spider-Man has done the same to one of my symbiotes. Look into my mind and you’ll see for yourself.”  
  
Venom dived into Carlton Drake’s thoughts. He could see the videos the man has been researching on this _Spider-Boy_ and a symbiote...that looked familiar. What enraged Venom was seeing Spider-Man teaching this symbiote how to be a hero. It reminded him...of traitors from his home planet. Klyntar. The four elder sisters who died fighting a fiery beast. A creation of Venom and his four brothers who died alongside those goodie-goodie sisters.  
  
“The spider is a hypocrite!” Venom snarled. “He rejected me, but he is okay with another using a symbiote to be a _hero_! I’ll cleanse that symbiote of justice and make the spider’s newest sidekick his greatest enemy!”  
  
“Now I like the sound of that plan,” Drake smirked. “I was hoping this child, Dominic Washington, who is this Spider-Boy would turn against the arachnid. But he is pathetically loyal to him and that Spider-Girl, like a puppy who can only take a hint when beaten with a whip.”  
  
“Or a tendril,” Venom grinned, “if we are to work together Drake, I will share with valuable information that will benefit your goals. First is the identity of the spider: Peter Parker!”  
  
Drake raised his eyebrows at the sight of one of the children from Midtown High School. He caught of glimpse of him with Washington. Did they each other’s identities? No, either way, it wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.  
  
“Parker...is not at Horizon?” Venom asked.  
  
“No, as far as I know,” Drake answered. “But the memories you shared of him, how he gained his powers, the enemies he’s made, and why he does what he does. Fascinating. I’ll have to make note of it.”  
  
Drake smirked, “and Venom, I believe I have a way to make you even more powerful than before. If you would agree to give a creation of the Life Foundations a test drive.”  
  
Venom snickered, “yes, Venom likes this plan.”  
  


* * *

  
“The Jackals back. Gwen, I’m so sorry.”  
  
“No, don’t apologize Peter. We made it out okay, the Polly is safe, and whatever left of his lab was destroyed.”  
  
Peter leaned against his locker at Midtown High. It reopened a week ahead of schedule and he scrambled to make sure he was ready for his classes. He hadn’t checked his phone until he woke up that morning, and the previous day he and Miles were helping out Ms. Marvel and her friend Inferno stop the villain Techno Golem. An inhuman like Ms. Marvel and Inferno who can manipulate tech. A team-up between her and Ghost would be a nightmare for Iron Man.  
  
“You know Miles and I would have been there to help you guys,” Peter said.  
  
“Yeah, but another villain who can control tech is more important than my...The Jackal,” to Gwen that’s who he was now, that’s who he chose to be.  
  
“And you said that he removed Spider-Boy’s mask?”  
  
“Lifted up. And he turned out to be your friend _Dominic Washington_. Did you know that?” Gwen heard Peter stuttering, “Peter…”  
  
“I suspected Gwen, honest. I told him not to reveal his identity until all of us trusted him, which I guess we all do now. This wasn’t like...hiding my identity. I just...Dominic and his symbiote.”  
  
“Scream.”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Would it be so wrong to tell him we’re the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Team?”  
  
“No…, but Scream won’t be with him forever and he’s aware of that. We’ll reveal ourselves to him one day when the time is right.”  
  
“Sure…”  
  
“And we’re the _Web-Warriors,_ ” Peter snuck in.  
  
Gwen scoffed, “I don’t think so Petey.”  
  
“Why can’t we just use Web-Warriors?”  
  
“We voted. Three to two.”  
  
“No, no that wasn’t a vote. And you told Dominic something about Anya so he would vote against Web-Warriors.”  
  
“I’m not disagreeing with that.”  
  
“Funny.”  
  
“—ier than you.”  
  
“I have to get ready for class…fifteen minutes”  
  
“Hard going back to a normal high school’s schedule.”  
  
“A little. I’ll talk to you guys later Gwen.”  
  
“Same here.”  
  
Peter slid his phone into his pocket and looked toward a bulletin board with photos of teachers. Raymond Warren, the Jackal’s photo was posted on a wall of teachers. He guessed no one felt like knocking down the other photos to pull one off the wall, or Principal Davis was unaware of Raymond’s crimes as the Jackal. A lot of teachers at Midtown were unaware of the many supervillains in New York City. Manhattan is the epicenter for supervillain attacks now that Peter thought about it.  
  
“Great, you’re down talking to _girlfriend_ from Horizon.”  
  
Peter jumped at the voice. He turned around and saw Liz Allan, calming down. Well, he was calmer than when she scared him.  
  
“Hi Liz,” Peter smiled, “um, that wasn’t my _girlfriend._ She’s just a—”  
  
“I really don’t care Parker,” Liz handed Peter a slipe of paper. She sighed when looked at it, “you don’t have what that is do you?”  
  
“Some kind of ticket?”  
  
“It’s a pass, Parker. For the big project that Carlton Drake is bringing to Horizon after the first period. I’m not surprised that you forgot to sign up for it since you didn’t go to the bookstore to get your ticket.”  
  
“But I—”  
  
Liz cut Peter off, storming away, “and Dominic forgot his ticket too. You are becoming a bad influence on him…”  
  
The rest of Liz’s ranting was inaudible as she continued down the hall.  
  
Peter sighed, “but I know I didn’t sign up for whatever project Drake is bringing to Midtown High.” Peter looked at the ticket, “then again maybe I should check it out.”  
  


* * *

  
_Song-Spider...Sonic-Spider...Spider-Jam...Arachninja...Spinobi?_  
  
Dominic knew he should be paying attention to Ms. Browne's words, but she only going over the homework that was posted on the school’s website when it was closed for repairs. She going to take it up and grade it herself anyway. The only people really paying her any attention were those trying to be slick and copy the answers while she explained the story, Beowulf. Dominic remembered having to read a book about the legend in middle school. Beowulf, a warrior who fought a cyclops named Grendel and his mother who was just called Mother and then some dragon. He hated it when he had to reread things in a new grade. It was so repetitive.  
  
But not as repetitive as the number of times Ms. Browne had tapped her rule on his desk. Dominic looked up at the teacher and smiled nervously when she swiped his notebook.  
  
“Tell me what this is Mr. Washington.”  
  
“Um…”  
  
“I’ll tell you what is,” she showed the book to the entire class, “drawings for that new video game by Stark Industries. The one where you create a character and fight alongside _Earth’s Mightiest Heroes._ ”  
  
“Right,” Dominic smiled in relief.  
  
“But many of these heroes, such as _Thor_ , would not exist today if it was not for the legends of Beowulf. Mr. Washington, please stand up and answer a few questions.”  
  
Dominic stood up to answer a few of the questions. Unknown to him, however, Trevor handed Ramon a pack of chewing gum. He the whole pack into a wad and planted it on Dominic’s seat. Scream saw this and tried to warn Dominic when he finished answering those questions.  
  
 _Splat._  
  
Dominic leaned in his seat and looked down toward it. He sighed, for these were one of his favorite pairs of pants.  
  
“Look everyone, DW’s got a bubble butt!” Ramon laughed.  
  
“I wouldn’t want to be around when that bubble bursts,” Trevor laughed.  
  
The school bell rang indicating the end of the first period. Everyone student left the classroom before Ms. Browne dismissed them. As Dominic made way for the door, Ms. Browne handed him a Clorox wipe.  
  
“I’ll miss Randy, I’ll miss Liz, I’ll miss MJ, and I’ll miss Flash,” Dominic sang to himself at his locker, “but not Trevor, Ramon, nor Billy. If I get into Horizon I’ll be happy to leave those three idiots behind.”  
  
 _I still don’t understand why we don’t classify them as supervillains_ , Scream said.  
  
 _Because they haven’t committed any crimes Scream. They’re just bullies.  
  
But Spider-Man has called that Scorpion guy a big bully_.  
  
 _He meant that metaphorically.  
  
I still don’t like that they bother you._  
  
Dominic smiled, _I’m happy that you care so much about my well being, but Aunt Pat always said that showing bullies that you’re not bothered by their immaturity is how you stand up to them. And she should know, a lot of people in the army were not too fond of her._  
  
Dominic looked down toward his carcass, “if only it wasn’t such a bright color of red. Ew, I think its fading to a brown...”  
  
“Mr. Washington,” Dominic turned around...and looked down to see Ms. Marconi, “I hope you haven’t forgotten about the project Carlton Drake has donated to Midtown High for us.”  
  
“No ma’am,” especially since Liz went off on him for forgetting he signed up for the class. Dominic didn't even recall signing up, “just putting a few things into my locker.”  
  
“Good, and I heard you signed up for Horizon’s open house.”  
  
Dominic winced, “y-you did?”  
  
Ms. Marconi nodded, “from Mr. Drake. He selected a few students who were planning on transferring to Horizon. He thought it would be a good idea if they contributed before leaving the school.”  
  
“I...guess so,” Dominic said. Ms. Marconi nodded once again and left Dominic to his locker. But before leaving, “Ms. Washington..um, this isn’t any of my business, but the student lounge is right down the hall from Principal Davis’ office.”  
  
Dominic sighed, “thanks, Ms. Marconi.”  
  


* * *

  
Peter was happy to see that he wasn’t late for this science project. Even Carlton Drake hadn’t arrived yet. Besides Liz, Mary Jane, and Dominic, the latter of two who smiled and waved, he wasn’t too familiar with any of the students in the room. So he just hung around Mary Jane and Dominic. He noticed Dominic shifted to the side a bit.  
  
“So have you guys heard what this _project_ is going to be?” Peter asked.  
  
“Nope, but apparently it’s supposed to be something that even Horizon High couldn’t figure out,” Mary Jane air quoted.  
  
“You have any idea what that could be Pete?” Dominic asked.  
  
“Not really,” Peter admitted. Everything Horizon hasn’t solved is...well property of Horizon. Unless it’s the concept of what they couldn’t solve, which Peter still didn’t know what that could be.  
  
“Good morning students and future intellectuals of Midtown High School,” Carlton Drake entered the room with arms spread out wide. Following him were Ms. Marconi and...Trevor, Ramon, and Billy.  
  
They flashed a smile at Dominic, who still had his butt facing away from everyone. Peter frowned at that, those three bothering Dominic. It reminded of how Flash use to bully him before learned what he was doing was wrong…, and how Carl King, Seymour O’ Reilly, Jason Lonello, and a few others are currently bullying since his transfer back to Midtown. He wonders how Ock even put up with them.  
  
Drake placed a container containing a liquid metal on one of the tables in the room, “Last year, Horizon High attempted to stabilize liquid found from outer space and make it an element of the periodic table. Unfortunately, Modell and his students failed to realize that liquid was actually sentient space ooze. I believe the creature, unfortunately, attacked a fellow student of yours, Flash Thompson.”  
  
Peter heard a few students murmur.  
  
“Well, I assure you that his liquid is not sentient. I am proposing a challenge upon Midtown High. I believe that you all are capable of creating a new metal for the periodic table. After all, many metals are created by combining pre-existing metals. Whose to say that vibranium’s origin isn’t from an unidentified combination of metals that the Wakandans are keeping secret from the rest of the world?”  
  
Drake cleared his throat, “I believe that like how one color is formed from another combination of colors, that each of you can experiment with different liquid metals, stabilize them, and see what properties they may contain.” He pulled out another container that held a finalized metal, “I like to call this one Dargonite.”  
  
Dominic chuckled, causing everyone to look at him.  
  
“Care to tell us what was funny about that Mr. Washington?” Ms. Marconi asked.  
  
“I’m sorry. That name reminded me of a _Pokemon_ ,” Dominic smiled, “ _Dragonite_ ; _Dargonite_. You switch the r and the a. The r and the a...Dargonite...Dragonite?”  
  
Drake coughed, “yes, well while many things we see in television have inspired many of the great creations we use today, we must still find a line between what is plausible...and what is a childish fantasy.”  
  
Dominic didn’t say anything, knowing that he walked himself into that one.  
  
“Now unless anyone else has anything to say, let’s pair you all off into groups shall we?” Drake said.  
  


* * *

  
_There he is and there they is…_  
  
Venom peered into the classroom where Drake told him to watch for. The symbiote licked himself at the sight of Peter Parker, _the Spider_ , again. He could also sense the symbiote Drake wanted him to capture. It was still young, unable to sense Venom’s presence even from this close a range. At the same time, the young symbiote felt...familiar. Venom shook off the thought, knowing that he’ll learn about the symbiote later on.  
  
 _Time to play my part…_  
  
He always considered these Earthling scientists fools, Horizon for trying to make him into some element. The Space Administration for...just experimenting on him. Made him powerful without even knowing it. Drake, on the other hand, knew what he was doing. Sure, he may have needed to do more procedures on these symbiotes he extracted, but his goals were interesting and would help continue the plan he failed to achieve because of Spider-Man.  
  
This _P.H.A.N.T.O.M_ android was an alternative to Drake’s methods if he wasn’t able to make his symbiotes compatible with his human _volunteers_. While it did help Venom take on the muscular form he possessed with Flash Thompson and Eddie Brock thanks to nanites, it didn’t impress him too much. But, if it’d help him defeat the Spider he was more than willing to test drive it.  
  
And he could still manipulate his body mass into different forms. He turned himself into a puddle of ooze and slid up the steps and underneath the front doors of Midtown High.  
  


* * *

  
Scream was sleeping peacefully, as she usually does when Dominic is taking classes. However, she felt something. Like an ominous wind. A presence. If she had a spine chills would be going down it right. She couldn’t figure out what had her bio-mass quaking. She felt a presence, but couldn’t make out what was making her unnerved. It wasn’t like when Dominic was fighting alongside the spiders, but…  
  
Maybe it was nothing. She wanted to tell Dominic, but that mean short lady and...Carlton Drake most likely wouldn’t allow him to step outside. And they appeared to be upset with Dominic already just for that quick joke. She didn’t want to see him in any more trouble. She watched Dominic, Liz, and two other people mix the liquid metals together.  
  
 _No...can’t ignore this. It feels...it feels..._ Scream called for Dominic, _trouble.  
  
Trouble? _Dominic tried to keep a straight face as he talked to Scream mentally. _What trouble?  
  
Spider-Man trouble. Something...something dangerous. Need Spider-Man!  
  
Here? Now?_ Dominic looked across the room at Ms. Marconi and Carlton Drake. Ms. M was not fond of letting students out of the classroom, even for a restroom break. Dominic prayed this would work. “Ms. Marconi, may I step out to the restroom?”  
  
“No,” she answered bounty.  
  
 _Being polite as possible didn’t work_. Dominic held his wrist. “I just want to run some hot water on my wrist. I popped it back accident when I moved my hand.”  
  
Ms. Marconi raised her eyebrow, her hands on her hips. Dominic grinned, hoping that she would buy his excuse, even though it was obvious she could see through him.  
  
“Oh let the pour boy relax his wrist,” Drake chuckled, “the hands are the most important tools after all.”  
  
Ms. Marconi sighed and said, “five minutes.”  
  
Dominic nodded and bolted out of the door. He thought he heard a few students mention the gum on his pants, but that wasn’t important right now. Since his walkman was at home, he took his cellphone to call Spider-Man, having given the wallcrawler that number as well. Scream suddenly formed his costumed, including his cowl mask, over his normal clothes.  
  
He didn’t need to ask why.  
  


* * *

  
“Mr. Parker, can you please do something about your cellphone?”  
  
“Uh, sure Ms. Marconi.”  
  
Peter had no clue who could be calling him right now. If it was Aunt May she would have called Principal Davis. Gwen, Miles, Anya, and Harry knew he couldn’t talk to them around this time.  
  
 _Wait, that’s not my cellphone._ Peter turned away from Mary Jane so she couldn’t see his Spider-Man mask in his backpack. He reached his hand in there and turned off the commlink. _Someone was trying to contact me. But Ms. Marconi won’t let me out until Dominic gets back...unless he’s the one who contacted me._  
  
“Peter,” Mary Jane’s voice knocked him out of his thoughts. “Can you pass me that black metal?  
  
“Sure MJ,” Peter reached for the liquid. Most likely ore. Seeing brought back memories of Venom. But he and Eddie Brock were out cold at the Space Administration.  
  
There was a knock at the door.  
  
“The door is open Mr. Washington,” Ms. Marconi said.  
  
“Knock, knock!”  
  
A tentacle slammed through the door, with some wrapped within it. Peter’s eyes widened when he saw it was Dominic, or in this case Spider-Boy. Though, that’s not what surprised him the most. It was the figure in the doorway The figure that was flicking his tongue lack a snake.  
  
“I’ve come here looking for Spider-Man, and the first person I find is his newest sidekick! Hahaha!”  
  
“Venom…” Peter murmured, reaching for his bag.  
  
“Peter Parker!”  
  
That was something Peter didn’t need right now. Venom bringing everyone’s attention to him. The symbiote enjoyed the look on his former host's face. He could tell everyone Peter was Spider-Man then and there, but he wanted to have a little more fun with the spider before ruining his life. If there was one thing the spider valued more than his own life, it was the life others close to him.  
  
“Peter Parker,” Venom yelled, “tell your friend Spider-Man that he better show himself in a few minutes, otherwise Venom will have to rehabilitate this spiderling _and his symbiote_. Hehe—”  
  
Before the third chuckle, one of the liquid metals was splattered on Venom’s face, burning the symbiote to reveal a robot part underneath his head.  
  
 _That’s not Eddie Brock!_ Peter watched as Spider-Boy wrapped Venom’s face with webbing and jumped onto his shoulders.  
  
“Everyone run!” Spider-Boy ordered, trying to tame Venom like a matador to a bull.  
  
“You all heard Spider-Man’s sidekick!” Ms. Marconi said, motioning everyone to follow her and Drake.  
  
Of course, Peter ran in the opposite direction of everyone else. He ducked into the men’s restroom and came out as Spider-Man.  
  
“I don’t Know how Venom escaped, and without a human host to boot, but I got to save Spider-Boy and everyone at Midtown High!”  
  
As soon as Spider-Man left the men's restroom Spider-Boy appeared at his feet, having slid across the floor on his back.  
  
"You did get my call," he smiled as Spider-Man helped him up. "Venom is tougher than he looked in those videos."  
  
"And he doesn't have a host," Spider-Man said.  
  
"Say what?" Spider-Boy asked, “I thought Eddie—”  
  
The two heard Venom laughing from across the hallway. He clawed as the lockers as he approached the two spiders, causing Spider-Boy and Scream to grimace a little.  
  
“So you told _them_ about Eddie Brock?”  
  
“I mean it comes up given the origin of my friend's powers,” Spider-Man rebutted, “but I’m curious as to why Brock is not with you. Last time I recall the two of you were nothing without each other.”  
  
Venom chuckled, “Eddie Brock’s feeling were as you humans say one-sided. It is true that our mutual hatred of you made our symbiosis more powerful than that of the one I had with you and Flash Thompson, but neither Brock nor Thompson possessed the one thing you have.”  
  
“Charming personality, great ability to quip?”  
  
“Superpowers. Those alone made you the perfect host for a symbiote of my caliber. I could have made you better, taken your abilities to the next level. We could have been so much, ruled so much!”  
  
Venom pointed at Spider-Boy, “but instead you play the hypocrite. You reject me, yet you allow this other spider to form a symbiosis with one of my sisters. Corrupting her, poisoning her head to distance her from her true nature!”  
  
“Scream doesn’t want to be like you Venom!” Spider-Boy yelled, “she isn’t evil like you are!”  
  
“And we can cite her lack of fangs and long, disgusting tongue as a source,” Spider-Man added.  
  
Venom chuckled again, “no matter. I was given orders to bring this...Scream—” the name sounded familiar to Venom, “and her host to an associate of mine. And while destroying you has always been part of my goals Spider-Man, my associate said that it would further his plans if your influence came to an end.”  
  
 _Associate…,_ Scream murmured.  
  
“If you want us to go with you, you’re gonna have to drag us out kicking and screaming,” Spider-Boy stated.  
  
“And you know I don’t squash easily,” Spider-Man slid his hand toward his pocket.  
  
Venom grinned, “you will thanks to what this _P.H.A.N.T.O.M_ has enhanced of my symbiote biology. Tell me this _Scream_ , are you capable of doing this!”  
  
Venom formed one arm into a mace and the other into a hammer. He sent the hammer after Spider-Boy and the mace after Spider-Man. Spider-Boy remembers what Ghost-Spider told him about being flexible, thinking of his movements as ballet steps. He was able to dodge Venom’s hammer until being backed into a corner. While the hallways had space, it wasn’t enough to fight Venom.  
  
Spider-Man noticed that Venom stopped swinging his mace to pin Spider-Boy down with his hammer. He pulled out six small disks, three in each hand, and tossed them at Venom. These electro-disks as Spider-Man called them only stunned Venom the last time he used them. This time they appeared to have a much wider effect. Maybe it was because the symbiote was using a robot as a host body.  
  
When Venom fell to his back Spider-Man swung over to see if Spider-Boy was okay. He was getting up, stretching his back from the hammer knocking him into a display case.  
  
“Scream and I prefer to keep are fighting style like you guys. Webs, legs, and fists,” Spider-Boy said as he dusted the glass from his body, “but we’re beginning to consider Ghost-Spider’s idea of seeing if Scream’s abilities could be improved. Venom couldn’t do any of that in the videos I’ve seen of him.”  
  
“You don’t have to tell me. The least he could do is form his hand into a thick tendril,” though those abilities were reminding Spider-Man of another symbiote encounter, one he hasn’t told his friends or Spider-Boy about. “Now we need to find a way to get rid of him...Scream is okay with that right?”  
  
“Yeah,” Spider-Boy assured, “she knows Venom is pure evil and that innocent people will get hurt by him. I think you mentioned once that Venom isn’t weak to sounds or sonics anymore. Scream says we should use electricity or fire.”  
  
“Well lighting a fire in a school would be sending the wrong message,” Spider-Man activated his lenses x-ray vision to scan the walls for an outlet. He didn’t want to deface school property again, but he tore down a fire alarm and two security cameras. “Not that making a makeshift taser with wires is any better.”  
  
Spider-Man connected the wires and pulled them away quickly when a spark formed. He brought the wires down on Venom, and then the power in the school went out.  
  
“Seriously?!” Spider-Boy whined. “I don’t think we’ve ever had an outage before.”  
  
“And I know it wasn’t me,” Spider-Man said, “I made sure before I pulled any wires.”  
  
“But who’s going to make sure I don’t pull your wires!?”  
  
The two spiders felt were slammed into the wall, their bodies wrapped in tendrils. Neither of them could break free, even Scream had trouble trying to rip through Venom’s tendrils with her own.  
  
“Watching a fellow symbiote, a sister in arms, be infected by these miserable humans! You bring shame to your race symbiote known as Scream!”  
  
 _I’m not a symbiote, I’m a klyntar!_ Scream yelled mentally. She wasn’t really aware Venom could hear her until he responded.  
  
“Klyntar; symbiote. You and countless others act like both words are complete opposites. Every symbiote is a klyntar and every klyntar is a symbiote. It’s just a shame that you ignore your past, your purpose, and have let these humans poison you with their morals and heroics. It’s like I said little one, you’ll be cleansed soon enough. That goes for your host and the rest of these terra-vermin!”  
  
Spider-Man mumbled something, but it was too inaudible for Spider-Boy to make out. Venom was pulling them both closer, the two realizing that he was just a huge blob now and using the robot as a body.  
  
“I shouldn’t sully myself using this technique on you Spider-Man, but I might as well since I have you entangled in _my_ web!” Venom chuckled, “I believe you recall me using this technique on those football players. Another form of symbiosis, I think _venomizing_ has a nice ring to it.”  
  
Spider-Man could only see Spider-Boy’s hand, his own vision going away as everything faded to black. Air fading away…  
  
“Hey ugly!”  
  
 _That voice,_ Spider-Man could have sworn—  
  
“Let the Spidey’s go!”  
  
 _Mary Jane? Flash! What are they doing—_  
  
First, there was the sound of multiple blow horns and then...a fire extinguisher. Suddenly it was cold. Venom’s biomass was frozen. With all of his strength, Spider-Man moved around until he broke free of the frozen tendril cocoon. He looked over at Spider-Boy. He hadn’t broken out yet, did his symbiote freeze along with Venom? Spider-Man cracked open his cocoon. Spider-Boy and Scream, judging from Spider-Boy stealing wearing a suit, were okay too.  
  
“I...I know we have another whole month until Spring, but I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be this cold right now,” Spider-Boy stood up and held himself. “Thanks, Spidey.”  
  
“Don’t thank me,” Spider-Man guided Spider-Boy’s attention to not only Mary Jane and Flash but Liz and Randy too.  
  
Spider-Boy smiled, “just goes to show you that Horizon isn’t the only school who has _heroes._ ”  
  
“You can say that again,” Spider-Man placed his hands on hips, “but it was good of you guys to remember the fire extinguishers. The blow horns wouldn’t have been effective this time.”  
  
“Anything to help you out Spidey...Venom can’t escape right?” Flash asked.  
  
“I don’t want to wait around to find out,” Spider-Man looked back at the frozen symbiote. “We should call the Space Administration and have them—”  
  
Suddenly the school's power comes back on. Including the heaters. Ice shards scattered everywhere. Defending themselves made Spider-Man and Spider-Boy lose sight of Venom.  
  
“Oh Spiders, behind you…”  
  
Spider-Man and Spider-Boy slowly turned around, both of their hearts sinking when they saw Venom. Venoms. Mary Jane, Flash, Liz, and Randy were all _venomized_. Color-coded and all.  
  
Venomized Mary Jane chuckled, “oh, I like this one. So petite, so athletic. No brains, but I think she’d give Gwen Stacy a run for her money Spider.”  
  
Spider-Boy looked at Spider-Man at the mention of Gwen Stacy.  
  
“She helped conduct research on Venom at Horizon before anyone knew he was alive,” Spider-Man rebuke, looking back at Venom, “more importantly, it’s creepy that you even said. Creepier at what you’re doing to these kids. Unbond from them now!”  
  
“Or what?” Spider-Man hated that Mary Jane’s voice was mixed with Venom’s...or that it was mixed with Eddie Brock’s who Venom had been mimicking. “You wouldn’t dare hurt these _kids_ , would you Spiders. That’d be very unheroic of you.”  
  
“But you know what wouldn’t be _unheroic_?” Spider-Boy kicked a locker, popping it open, and web-pulled a guitar to himself. “Delivering the justice of dope music!”  
  
Before anyone could react, Spider-Boy strummed a cord, releasing a powerful soundwave from the guitar. Display cases could be heard shattering the from frequency, but the venomized Midtown students were unaffected.  
  
“That was...irritating,” said the venomized Mary Jane.  
  
Spider-Boy looked at Spider-Man. “I...I thought since he separated that would have made him weaker—”  
  
Venomized Liz grabbed Spider-Boy’s guitar and snapped it in half.  
  
“Come on!” Spider-Boy whined, “that was my project for Horizon’s open house!”  
  
“Horizon’s overrated…” Venomized Liz laughed.  
  
“Egg...heads…,” Venomzed Flash got into a halfback position and tried to tackle the two spiders. When they jumped, the other venomized Midtown students regrouped with Flash.  
  
Venomized Mary Jane smirked and ran toward Spider-Man, doing front-flips until attempting to kick Spider-Man. He blocked, surprised at how agile MJ or Venomized MJ was. She was the Midtown Tigers mascot and had an athletic side in addition to being part of a band, but Peter didn’t know she was this skilled. She jumped and Flash charged toward Spider-Man with his arm forward, slamming the web-slinger into a wall.  
  
Spider-Boy was avoiding Venomized Liz, who made her skirt sharp with jagged points and spun around like a top. Venomized Randy was already taken care of, give or take he doesn’t break free. Spider-Boy noted that Randy was never the athletic type.  
  
 _Scream, are there any other weaknesses?_ Spider-Boy asked, _"because I don’t want to electrocute my friends.  
  
Raising their dopamine levels can will put Venom into a coma.  
  
I don’t think dopamine’s an option right now.  
  
Vitamin C. If the host has high levels of Vitamin C in their body it can ruin the symbiosis._  
  
Spider-Boy thought up a plan, _does the host have to consume the Vitamin C or can I just shove it down Venom or the Venom’s throats?  
  
Either way yes._  
  
Spider-Boy smirked and jumped away from Venomzied Liz. He called Spider-Man, “Spidey! Scream and I have a plan, but we need you to keep Venom...the Venoms busy!”  
  
“Pretty sure I shouldn’t be the one keeping them busy,” Spider-Man flipped Venomized Mary Jane off him, “but I’ll follow your game.”  
  
Spider-Man noticed that Venomized Liz and Randy were attempting to follow Spider-Boy. He wrapped Randy in webbing and flung him toward Flash. When he webbed Liz she spun him around and slammed him into a locker. Though Spider-Man noticed the fire extinguishers they used on Venom before he bonded to them. He grabbed one.  
  
“We might not have to wait for Spider-Boy after all,” Spider-Man aimed the extinguisher, but nothing came out of it. “Okay, second times the charm!” Nothing came out of the second one, or the third one, or the fourth one.  
  
“See little spider, if you had stuck with me, we could have been unstoppable!” Venom yelled through each of his hosts, “but now you’ll have the honor of losing your mind, body, and soul to my brothers and sisters, once I find the seed!”  
  
“Seed?” Spider-Man questioned. “What are you talking about?”  
  
“Doesn’t matter,” Venom chuckled, “by the time you find out, your entire planet will have evolved by then.”  
  
“Not unless you dissolve first!”  
  
The Venom’s turned around, their vision orange as Spider-Boy sprayed each of them with orange juice. Orange juice that he may or may not have added an extra galloon of vitamin c to make sure the plan would work. And while Venom was no witch, he was definitely melting.  
  
“ _His_ plans for this traitor of a symbiote will have to wait,” Venom his as he slithered toward the science lab, “then again, maybe my plans will come to manifest before _the Drake’s_.”  
  
Spider-Man and Spider-Boy followed Venom. Spider-Man tossed one of his tracers at the sentient ooze, but it only slipped through the alien's body as he flushed himself down the drain of the desk sink.  
  
“Just what we needed,” Spider-Man sighed, reaching for his tracer.  
  
“So how are we going to track Venom now?” Spider-Boy asked.  
  
“I know three people that can help us out, and if not them three more people and whatever resources are at the Space Administration,” Spider-Man said, “but first we need to make sure these kids get to a hospital.”  
  
Spider-Boy slapped himself, upset that his mind slipped away from Liz, Randy, Flash, and MJ. “Right. I’ll call a hospital. I think everyone else evacuated the school grounds completely this time.”  
  
Spider-Man tapped his web-shooter, pulling up a holographic screen with a list of his contacts. It was the first time Spider-Boy has seen it, but that wasn’t important right now. Spider-Man selected the first name on the list.  
  
“Gwen,” Spider-Man whispered, “We really need some Horizon High help right now, specifically anything on the V-252.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Carlton Drake knows a few more things about the symbiotes thanks to Venom...and that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Originally I thought about Venom still being bonded to Eddie Brock because I always had that conversation between Venom and Spider-Boy played out in my head. But, I love how Venom, the symbiote, is portrayed in the cartoon and wanted to use that portrayal in Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes. Plus, I may or may not have other plans for Eddie.
> 
> Chapter eight was actually supposed to be the ending of this chapter, but I thought it made the chapter longer than it needed to be with all of the action scenes.
> 
> Speaking of changes, I had an ending planned for Song, Spiders, and Symbiotes that involved other heroes for plot reasons. Though now, I was thinking about just focusing on the spiders and their conflict with Drake and eventually Jackal. Would a team-up with other heroes be something anyone wants to see at some point, or should I just continue on with Peter, Dominic, Miles, Gwen, Anya, and Scream? I already have heroes in mind, both for fun and to carry the plot along.


	8. The Seed of Today

****

**Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes  
Chapter 8**

* * *

  
Getting the files on the V-252 project, aka Venom from Horizon was easier than Peter expected it to be. It helped that Miles, Gwen, and Anya kept the files from when they were preparing the project for the Stark Expo last year. Peter was hoping that something could help them improve his V.P.S (Venom.Positioning.System) so they could track Venom. Thanks to the Space Administration and their many tests on Venom, the frequency the symbiote gives off was different than it was the last time Spider-Man had used the VPS.  
  
“Wait, Venom doesn’t have a host now?” Miles asked.  
  
Peter nodded, “he was using a robot as a body, and after I used my electro-disks to short circuit it, he fought Spider-Boy... Dominic and I as a giant blob of slime. Our webbing and punches weren’t working so we tried to electrocute him, and Midtown's power went out.”  
  
“That’s bad timing,” Anya noted.  
  
“Our classmates showed up and froze Venom with some fire extinguishers,” Peter sighed, “then the power came on, along with the heat, Venom broke free and he _venomized_ our classmates.”  
  
“He what?” Gwen asked.  
  
“Venomized. Bond to them. Venomized is shorter and cooler to say.”  
  
“Shorter yes, cooler no,” Gwen said.  
  
“Anyway, he let them go,” Peter paced around the Think Tank, “and he actually gloated about having some evil scheme.”  
  
“Venom?” Miles asked. “His only scheme is revenge on you.”  
  
“I know, but he kept mentioning something about a _seed_ ,” Peter crossed his arms, “and that I’d regret never allowing myself to be his host.”  
  
“Did Dominic…, well Scream, know anything about this seed?” Gwen asked.  
  
“I don’t even know he was around to hear it our not,” Peter said, “he had another plan to defeat our venomized friends with orange juice.”  
  
“Orange juice?” Anya asked, chuckling at the thought of defeating a creature like Venom with orange juice.  
  
“Don’t laugh, the plan actually worked. Apparently, if a host has too much vitamin c in their body a symbiote will have problems bonding to them.”  
  
“And Dominic and his symbiote waited until then to try that?” Miles asked.  
  
“Dominic thinks that Scream might have some form of memory loss or lapses,” Gwen said, “she remembers things at certain times, usually when he asks her.”  
  
“Maybe it’s from whatever experiments the Life Foundation did on her?” Anya guessed.  
  
Peter winced, “he wouldn’t…”  
  
“Who wouldn’t?” Miles asked.  
  
“That robot Venom used as a host body,” Peter recalled the design of the robot, "it was bulkier, but it looked like the one Drake _claimed_ was hacked by someone to attack Midtown. I think the one Venom used was his, and Venom did mention working with someone.”  
  
Peter sighed, “but that isn’t enough proof, and he could easily defend himself since his own son attends Midtown High.”  
  
“One step at a time,” Gwen reminded, “whatever we find out, we’ll put a stop to it, Pete.”  
  
“Gwen’s right. We’re not going to let Drake try anything that’ll hurt Midtown, Dominic, Scream, or the city,” Miles said, “we’ve faced enough guys like him before. We can do it again.”  
  
Peter smiled, “you guys are right. As Gwen said, we focus on one problem at a time.”  
  
“Just curious, but where is Dominic anyway?” Anya asked, turning around and glaring at Miles when she heard him snickering.  
  
“At the hospital,” Peter answered, “he wanted to make sure our friends from Midtown were okay. They were still breathing, but they were out cold.”  
  


* * *

  
“Don’t worry, you’re friends are just fine. They just need some time to rest.”  
  
Dominic smiled and nodded as the doctor looked over a clipboard full of papers. Maybe being bonded to Venom, albeit partially, kept Liz, Randy, MJ, and Flash from being seriously wounded. The doctor had to escort him out, for Dominic spent his time as a visitor in the room long enough. He had given the doctor the school’s number since he didn’t know anyone’s home numbers. No one, well almost no one, gives those out anymore.  
  
Dominic stood outside the room, leaning against the window, and sighed. He looked at his phone to see if he had any missed calls or texts from Spidey. Nothing yet. Many people have told Dominic to never let revenge motivate him: his parents, Spider-Man, and many teachers; however, he did want to get Venom back for this.  
  
And so did Scream for putting her friend and his friends in danger. She was a klyntar, not a symbiote. Not like him. Sure, she would take control of Dominic’s body sometimes, but it was all in good fun and she was doing it after learning humor. She would never suppress Dominic’s other emotions to bring out his anger and only his anger.  
  
There was one thing Venom said that Scream couldn’t stop thinking about. _The seed_. She and Dominic arrived at the tail end of Venom’s monologue, but they heard that much. Scream didn’t know why certain things resonated with her, but...she knew where Venom had run off!  
  
 _Dominic, call Spider-Man!_  
  
Dominic jumped a little, never hearing Scream this high-strung before. _Why, what’s wrong? Can you sense Venom now?  
  
No, but I believe I know where he might be heading and if we don’t hurry Earth will be in danger!  
  
In danger?  
  
Yes! I-I don’t know why certain words resonate with me, but that seed Venom speaks of is a weapon. A symbiote weapon. And I believe he buried it where he was founded by human scientists on Earth! We need to defeat him before he unearths it!  
  
Okay!_ Dominic was about to leave until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Carlton Drake and Ms. Marconi.  
  
“Dominic, what are you doing here?” Ms. Marconi asked.  
  
“Oh, I was the one who called the ambulance for Liz, Randy, Mary Jane, and Flash,” Dominic smiled, “that creature slithered out of the restroom and I hid in my stall. When the coast was clear, I found them all lying down. So I thought the best course of action was to call a hospital.”  
  
“Well, I believe it was a good coincidence that Ms. Marconi allowed you to leave for the restroom after all,” Drake chuckled.  
  
“But we’re still going to discuss why it took you so long to run hot water on your hand,” She stated, pointing a finger at him.  
  
“Yes, ma’am…” Dominic looked over his shoulder, “well I kind of have to get going now…”  
  
“Before you go, Mr. Washington, may we ask you a few questions,” Ms. Marconi asked.  
  
 _No!_ Dominic rubbed the back of his head. “Sure, Ms. Marconi.”  
  
“That creature knew Mr. Parker, and according to Mr. Drake, it was a project that Horizon High worked on. Mr. Parker was one of the students who worked on it. Everyone knows he hasn’t been feeling too excited about being at Midtown, recently for some odd reason, but do you know if he’s been showing any odd behavior? You have been only person closets to him lately.”  
  
Dominic winced, “um, Ms. Marconi, Peter’s one of the coolest and nicest guys I’m glad to have met. He only wants to go back to Horizon because that’s where his friends are, but he has also shared his love for Midtown. He wouldn’t do anything like this at all.”  
  
“Sometimes Mr. Washington, people are not who they appear to be,” Drake said, placing his hand on Dominic’s shoulder one again.  
  
It made Dominic feel uneasy. Or was that Scream? Both of them?  
  
“Well Mr. Drake, Peter would never put anyone in harm’s way,” Dominic stated, stuttering a little, “I-I really need to get going now…”  
  
The two adults nodded and Dominic went on his way. Drake and Ms. Marconi looked at the four students who were still asleep in the operating room.  
  


* * *

  
Venom traveled to the outskirts of New York. He actually slithered all the way to the location the Space Administration had found him about a year ago. Or, at least that’s what Spider-Boy was hoping right now. Ghost-Spider and Spider-Girl were not thrilled about this little _road trip_ , especially the part that required them to jump from truck to truck when one diverged from their route.  
  
It was evening, but the five spiders finally reached their destination. A fenced-off entrance to some woods on the exit to Duncan Valley. Or it was fenced off before _something_ tore a hole into the side of the fence.  
  
“Well, at least we know this is the right place,” Ghost-Spider said.  
  
“But why would Venom go back to the same location the Space Administration found him?” Spider-Girl asked.  
  
“Only one way to find out,” Spider-Man walked toward the hole.  
  
As Spider-Boy stepped inside the fence, he flinched a little and fell back. The other Spider-Man caught him.  
  
“You okay there?” He asked.  
  
“Yeah...yeah,” Spider-Boy felt his head, “I think it was just a migraine or something.”  
  
The two continued after their friends, who were now hopping from tree branch to tree branch. There was a dirt trail in the ground. Was it made by Venom? The alien symbiote obviously lacked subtlety. He obviously had some intelligence, but leaving a trail behind was something even the dumbest of criminals knew to never do.  
  
Spider-Boy felt another _migraine_ and missed his next branch. He fell to the ground on his back.  
  
“You okay Spider-Boy?” Spider-Man asked as he and the other spiders turned around to make sure he was okay.  
  
Spider-Boy sighed, “you know how I said Scream can’t sense Venom. We still can’t, but...we feel something coming from the direction we’re heading. And it’s giving Scream a headache, which in turn is affecting me. It’s like a painful spider-sense.”  
  
Spider-Boy flinched again, but this time the other spiders felt a vibration emit through the ground.  
  
“If you and Scream are being affected by whatever it is Venom is doing, then the two of you should head back,” Spider-Girl suggested.  
  
“We’ll be okay,” Spider-Boy stood up, “see.”  
  
Spider-Man, Spider-Girl, the other Spider-Man, and Ghost-Spider looked at each other.  
  
Spider-Man turned back to Spider-Boy, “okay, but if you migraine gets worse deeper into the woods you’re going back to the entrance.”  
  
Spider-Boy nodded and the group continued on.  
  
“If you don’t mind me asking Spider-Boy, how did Scream come to the conclusion that Venom would be out here?” Spider-Girl asked.  
  
“We were at Horizon High one day and noticed a framed Newspaper of the Space Administration donating Venom to Horizon. It had the location of where they found him and well, it just made sense to her.”  
  
“In other words, it was a lucky guess?” The other Spider-Man asked.  
  
“If you want to get technical about it _Spidey_ ,” Spider-Boy replied nonchalantly.  
  
“But since Scream is a symbiote like Venom, shouldn’t she have an idea of what he’s looking for?” Spider-Girl asked.  
  
“Scream, I want to say she has memory lapses,” Spider-Boy tucked in his lips, “she remembers things at certain moments or if something reminds her of something. She’s not really like Venom. She was created in a lab, not from outer space at all.”  
  
“Then maybe that’s why you two have trouble sensing Venom,” Spider-Man hypothesized, “maybe the experiments done to Scream by the Life Foundation affected whatever symbiotes can do naturally.”  
  
“Like grow in size…,” Ghost-Spider brought everyone’s attention to a giant black figure in the clearing, “because Venom could not do that the last we encountered him.”  
  
The five Spider-Man’s came to a halt on some tree branches in a clearing. There was a lot of technology lying around, presumably left by the Space Administration. It was strange that they would leave their materials in the middle of a forest, but not as strange as the object Venom dug up. An oval-shaped rock that was glowing a red aura.  
  
“Finally, the time has come. Some many interruptions, so many setbacks, but now it is time to plant the seeds and let them take root!” Venom hissed. “To think that of all the planets I have visited, this blue ball of water is the only one to give me a difficult time. No matter. That is all behind me. Time for the humans to say goodbye to this pitiful planet!”  
  
“So this seed Venom’s been talking about, it’s some kind of bomb?” Spider-Boy asked.  
  
“Well, we’re not going to let him set it off,” Spider-Man jumped and shot a few web-balls at Venom. However, they only slip through the symbiote’s body mass. Spider-Man shot a web at another tree to catch himself.  
  
Venom chuckled, “I didn’t expect you and your allies to find me so soon. Then again, I guess it helps that one of your allies is a kindred spirit to me.”  
  
Venom turned his around like an owl and looked at Spider-Boy and Spider-Girl, only paying attention to the former, specifically Scream, “can’t you sense the power from our seed little one? It can do many things, including giving a symbiote the power of a god. I give you one last chance symbiote known as _Scream_. Join me or suffer the same faint as your host and the rest of these pathetic humans.”  
  
 _I told you before, Dominic, my host, is my friend. And his friends are my friends_ , Scream argued.  
  
Venom laughed again, this time like a maniac. Spider-Girl, Ghost-Spider, and both Spider-Men were surprised by this. It wasn’t just because they couldn’t hear Venom and Scream’s conversation, but Venom looked like a complete lunatic compared to just being a monster.  
  
“Friends? You are no different than _those old wenches_. Your precious Dominic might pretend to be your friend, to be your family. But sooner or later he will betray because that is all these humans know how to do. They use anything lesser than them as a tool and want to apologize when overpowered. I wouldn’t be surprised if Spider-Man and his friends have already planned a way to destroy you both. You symbiote whelpling!”  
  
“That’s it!” Spider-Boy lunged at Venom. “I’m getting sick of hearing you talk down to Scream just because she isn’t evil or sprouting fangs and a tongue like you. You think you’re so tough because you got your little _power-up_? Let’s see what happens when we take it from you!”  
  
Venom smirked, “or let’s see what happens when we share it!”  
  
“Spider-Boy, look out!” Spider-Girl called.  
  
It was too late. While aiming for Venom, Spider-Boy ended touching the _seed_ when Venom lifted his claw-shaped tendril. When Spider-Boy gained an aura the same color as the seed.  
  
“What are you doing to him Venom!?” Spider-Man shot more web-balls at the symbiote, but they were still doing nothing. Was Venom only vulnerable with a host?  
  
“History lesson,” Venom snickered, “something even those so-called _Guardians_ didn’t know about my kind.”  
  
“Well, I’ve never been a huge fan of history class!” Miles charged up electricity in his hands and shot his electro-sting as a stream of electricity.  
  
The electro-sting made Venom flinched, but it didn’t do any damage to him.  
  
“Maybe that bug zapper of yours would have worked while I was bonded to Eddie Brock, but Venom is beyond the need of a host. And with the seed in my grasp, I am nearly omnipotent!”  
  
“Maybe,” Ghost-Spider glided in and grabbed Spider-Boy, “but you’re missing you hostage.”  
  
“I didn’t need that whelping!” Venom absorbed the seed into his body mass. “Witness the end of this planet you heroes fight so hard to protect!”  
  
Venom suddenly sprouted three extra heads and started flailing his whole body around. Then each of his headshot four lasers into the sky.  
  
“Is he having some sort of meltdown!?” Miles panicked.  
  
“A meltdown that’ll destroy this entire area,” Spider-Girl said.  
  
“No, the entire planet!” Spider-Man looked around the Space Administrations technology to see if anything could help them. “Guys, help me look for something to stop Venom!”  
  
“That’s a little easier said than done dodging tentacles and carrying sleeping beauty here,” Ghost-Spider yelled.  
  
“He’s covering up the entire area!” Spider-Girl yelled.  
  
Spider-Man tried to think of a solution. Electricity could hurt symbiotes, and everything here was powered by an electric current. But why did Miles’ electro-sting barely tickle Venom? The amount of power he put into it? He could ask Miles to try a venom blast similar to the one that took out both Smythe’s Spider-Slayers like he did when trying to save his father, but that would involve having to get close to Venom and the symbiote would not allow that.  
  
Spider-Man slammed his fist against one of the machines in anger and a metal pipe fell on his head. “Ouch! Wait…” He looked up and noticed that there were more pipes above him. “That’s it! If we can connect the cables from these machines and jab the pipes into Venom we can stop him!”  
  
Spider-Man grabbed one piped, tied some wires around it, and tossed it at Venom. He was surprised that the symbiote didn’t stop what it was doing to snarl at him. It didn’t even look like Venom was paying attention to the spiders anymore.  
  
“Miles, Spider-Girl,” Spider-Man only called for the two of them because Ghost-Spider was still taking care of Spider-Boy, “tie the wires to any metal poles you can find and throw them at Venom. He wants to give Earth a light show, well we’re gonna _Light’em Up_!”  
  
That was a song Spider-Boy had shown him, and Spider-Man actually liked it.  
  
Spider-Girl and Miles followed Spidey’s instructions. Spider-Girl had fewer pipes than Miles due to Venom covering up most of the area around her. She had the pull the pipes toward herself and gave them to Miles so he could then attach the wires near him.  
  
“Okay, now what!?” Miles yelled.  
  
“Power up the machines!” Spider-Man pulled down on a lever.  
  
Miles did the same and an electric current coursed through the wires and into the pipes like a lightning rod. Electricity coursed through Venom’s body-mass, making the symbiote cry out in pain. He was still shooting lasers, but now his heads were just flailing them around. Luckily, he wasn’t aiming near the spiders.  
  
“NO!!!! I AM VENOM!!! THE WARRIOR! MESSIAH! NOTHING CAN STOP SYMBIOSIS! I CAN NOT BE STOPPED! WE CANNOT BE STOPPED! I...AM…”  
  
Vaporized.  
  
Venom was no more.  
  
Nothing was left of him.  
  
Nothing at all.  
  


* * *

  
Spider-Boy woke up and was confused by the cars and trucks passing by. He was more confused as to why he was sitting on a pile of logs.  
  
“Sleeping beauty finally awakes.”  
  
He turned to see Spider-Girl, both Spider-Men, and Ghost-Spider. Their costumes had tears in them...and they each smelt like they jumped into a furnace. Though that could have been the wood too.  
  
“Scream and I missed a lot?”  
  
“Only Venom growing four heads and shooting a giant laster into the sky,” Miles said.  
  
“Like that meme?” Spider-Boy asked.  
  
“What meme?”  
  
“Eh, nevermind,” Spider-Boy quickly changed the subject, “so what happened to Venom?”  
  
“This time, I think he’s gone for good,” Spider-Man said, “there was nothing left of him. Not even a trace of symbiote ooze. Whatever he did or tried to do vaporized him.”  
  
“One less thing to worry about,” Spider-Girl chuckled.  
  
Spider-Man pulled out the rock that gave Venom that power-up, “I wonder what this _seed_ is supposed to be.”  
  
“And Spider-Boy, what did it do to you and Scream?” Ghost-Spider asked, “Venom had the two of you in some weird trance.”  
  
“Oh boy,” Spider-Boy looked up at the sky. “That seed. It...I think it showed us how the klyntar were created.”  
  
“Klyn what?” Miles asked.  
  
“Symbiotes,” Spider-Boy answered.  
  
“And you saw how they were created?” Spider-Girl asked.  
  
Spider-Boy crossed his arms, “not in detail. Everything flashed by so fast. I saw for klyntar left alone on a planet. This alien finds them and takes them home with her. Three of the symbiotes bond with three members of her race, and then the symbiotes multiply and the entire race is bonded with them. Then something happened to the person who brought the symbiotes to the planet…”  
  
“Something happened?” Spider-Man asked.  
  
“Well, you know how some people are afraid to accept new ideas and customs? I think there was one alien, an old guy, who didn’t want to bond with a symbiote. He...attacked the alien who brought them to the planet with a heated pitchfork and...it didn’t turn out well for the alien or the symbiote.”  
  
“So he just burned that person without any regrets?” Ghost-Spider asked.  
  
Spider-Boy nodded, “and it looked like they weren’t trying to force a symbiote onto him. Just show him how they helped improve their society and culture.”  
  
Spider-Man noticed that Spider-Boy was holding himself. After working with him for this long he realized that was his way of comforting Scream. Venom’s words from each encounter made Spider-Man think about Spider-Boy’s story. _Rejection, betrayal_. Maybe the symbiotes weren’t naturally evil after all? There were many questions Spider-Man had right now, but the most important one was still unanswered.  
  
He did have a strong possibility of the answer.  
  
 _What did your acquaintance want with this seed of yours Venom?_  
  


* * *

  
“What a tangled web we weaved…”  
  
Carlton Drake and his workers from the Life Foundation traced the energy signature from Venom’s laser to where the Space Administration had found the symbiote. Drake also found spider webs, which would explain why he was missing two of the three items Venom said would be here.  
  
“So what are you going to do now boss?” Treece asked his employer.  
  
“Continue with my plans,” Drake juggled a black mineral in his hand, “my lack of this _seed_ and the other meteorite are just divergences, minor at that. What the V-252 symbiote, this Venom, gave me more information on these symbiotes than we ever would have discovered. Horizon and Modell were too oblivious to realize the V-252 was alive, and the Space Administration found a way to communicate with it, but obviously did little communicating.”  
  
Drake smiled and looked up at the evening sky, wondering how many stars may have been distant worlds, “while I’m not one to rush, I believe my first confrontation with _Spider-Boy_ is going to happen sooner than _he_ would expect. He is a property of the Life Foundation, of Carlton Drake. As such, he is in do for a _quality test_.”  
  
“Quality test?” Treece asked.  
  
“Yes, Treece,” Drake pushed his glasses down and smiled at his bodyguard, “Spider-Boy _is the one anointed with oil_ , and he’s befriended _two_ perfect candidates to serve as the reincarnations of two of the four _sisters_ needed to make the world, evolve. He needs to be perfected, and with his perfection will come the perfection of the sisters. After all, it only takes one person to change the world, and that one person, to cast the stone to form many ripples across the water.”  
  
Drake ordered his workers to gather their materials. They were finished here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Scream saw a bit of the Symbiotes history, but she isn't capable of using the power of the seed as Venom did. Though it will have her experience real memory lapses and not just symbiote abilities at some point. The Seed is being kept at Horizon by Gwen, Miles, and Anya since that's where the best technology is to study it.
> 
> Whenever I write dialogue for Drake, I look up quotes that can show off his personality a little. As you read, he has plans to make his own messiah(s).
> 
> The next two chapters are Dominic's transition to Horizon.


	9. Virus

Venom did less damage to the school than expected. In fact, the damage was minimal enough to keep the school from closing down again.  
  
Peter was happy that Midtown High didn’t suffer from another supervillain attack, but for once he’d rather not be at school. Venom’s little outburst the other day had students, and some faculty members, passing glances at him throughout the school day. The peering eyes made it hard to focus on schoolwork when it felt like daggers were being thrown in the back of his head.  
  
Mary Jane, Flash, Liz, and Randy recovered from being _venomized_. They were never injured, just asleep. Though Liz and Randy, especially Liz, were among the crowd who were upset with Peter. Mary Jane and Flash knew he didn’t have anything to do with Venom attacking the school or attacking them, especially Flash since he bonded to Venom a year ago.  
  
Still, it didn’t make ignoring the negativity any easier. Peter was happy that Principal Davis wasn’t upset with him like Ms. Marconi. He didn’t even want to imagine being expelled from another school again because of a supervillain. Another few days and he’ll be presenting his project at Horizon’s open house.  
  
Speaking of open house projects, Peter saw Dominic with his at his locker. It was broken in half.  
  
 _Did he try to use that to fight Venom?_ Peter recalled Dominic saying his project was going to be a guitar that could emit sound waves. He couldn’t recall if he ever told Dominic, Spider-Boy, that sound was a symbiotes weakness. Either way, he was another friend who lost a project because of him.  
  
“Hey Peter—” Dominic jumped back when Peter screamed at him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I guess it’s true that half the school is really blaming you for what that Venom-thing did yesterday?”  
  
Peter held his shoulder, “it is kind of my fault. I did work on it my first year at Horizon.”  
  
“Stop,” Dominic looked Peter in the eyes, “Pete, you didn’t tell that thing to attack Midtown High. And I **know** you didn’t tell it to attack Liz, Randy, MJ, and Flash.”  
  
Dominic folded his arms, “people just want someone to point fingers at, and that thing saying your name like that gave everyone someone to point at. I’m just surprised Ms. Marconi and...Carlton Drake actually asked me if I noticed you acting strange.”  
  
Peter winced, “they what?”  
  
“I was getting ready to leave the hospital after visitor hours were over and they met up with me. I think they were just checking on Liz, Randy, MJ, and Flash, but their words, especially Drakes, were harsh. They assumed you may have done this just to make Horizon’s open house get here faster.”  
  
Peter looked down, for that was surprising to hear. Then he looked at Dominic’s project in his hand, “that wouldn’t be your project for Horizon’s open house by any chance.”  
  
Dominic chuckled, “I tried to fight off that monster with it. Thought it would work since we used blow horns on it at Midtown’s football game last year.”  
  
“Well maybe if you hurry you can fix it up before the open house,” Peter said.  
  
Dominic smiled, “actually Peter, I’ve already been accepted into Horizon.”  
  
“Wait, what? When? How?”  
  
“Get this, someone paid for my tuition and said it was because they liked my project. That doesn’t make any sense since I haven’t shown it to anyone.”  
  
Peter thought about that, “maybe a teacher from Midtown saw you pick up the broken parts?”  
  
Dominic shrugged his shoulders, “Mr. Salmero went around and asked for me, but every teacher said it wasn’t them...or you know, they would never give their hard-earned money to Horizon...or a student.”  
  
“Well congratulations,” Peter held out his hand, but Dominic didn’t accept it. “Or not?”  
  
“You know Pete, I’m not really a science guy. When I was in middle school, I liked it when the class would reach the chapters on sound, but that came from my interest in music more than an interest in science,” it was Dominic’s turn to look down, “I wanted to surprise my dad if I was accepted into Horizon after the open house. He always brought up Horizon, but he never forced me to apply there. Entirely my choice. He was proud that I earned a grant, but I wanted to surprise him with my own work, with my project.”  
  
Peter leaned against a locker with hand, “I know how you feel. No one from Midtown knows about this, but the only reason I transferred back is because of a...complicated situation that happened a few months ago. Max offered to enroll me back as soon as possible, but I told him I wanted to go back through my own hard work. I took a job as a pizza delivery boy to earn some money, which most of it went into my project while the original plan was to save for tuition. I’m hoping that my project wows the judges enough to get me accepted into Horizon.”  
  
“But you’re a genius already,” Dominic looked to his right and smiled, “why not accept Max’s offer?”  
  
“I think I just answered that,” Peter chuckled, “I want to surprise people with my work as well. So what day are you transferring?”  
  
“Thursday. I was just cleaning out my locker right now. And I don’t have to go Midtown tomorrow, so I’m gonna spend the day getting ready,” Dominic pursed his lips and then smiled, “maybe just half the day.”  
  
Peter remembered when he transferred to Horizon. He solved Max Modell’s equation and saved the Midtown High’s auditorium from burning down. As Peter Parker, not Spider-Man. The next day he was the new kid at Horizon who felt like he didn’t belong there.  
  
“When you go to Horizon, maybe hang out with Miles, Gwen, and Anya,” Peter suggested, “the school can be overwhelming on the first day. The three of them can help you get used to the place until you find your footing.”  
  
Dominic nodded, “I’ll take that into consideration. See ya around Peter.”  
  
“See ya around.”  
  


* * *

  
“Fascinating. You’re really enjoying that chocolate bar aren’t you?” Doctor Skirth took notes on the blue symbiote in front of her. “Maybe that’s the problem...you and your kind don’t have enough nutrients in your system because we extract you from that fossil. You’re just an infant.”  
  
The blue symbiote stopped eating the chocolate bar, as far as Doctor Skirth could tell. It pressed its body against it’s glass tube.  
  
“And when you bond to another organism you gain the nutrients within their body. That explains why our _volunteers_ and some of your kind don’t survive the symbiosis,” Doctor Skirt held her pencil with her lips after coming to a conclusion. “As for the Foundation’s animal—”  
  
“Dora, still spouting nonsense about continuing tests on animals and not humans I see.”  
  
Dora jumped at the sound of Drake’s voice. She noticed the blue symbiote flattened itself into a puddle form.  
  
She readjusted her glasses and turned to her boss, “Sir, I think I may have figured out our problem with the human trials—”  
  
“So have I, Dora,” Drake took notice of his other workers designing more P.H.A.N.T.O.M prototypes, “fortunately, I still require the use of your services.”  
  
Drake dropped a fragment of the meteorite he found at the site from yesterday on Dora’s desk. She picked it up and looked at it. Unbeknown to her and Drake, the blue symbiote sprouted up when she held it.  
  
Drake stood in the middle of the laboratory with his back facing his scientists, who he knew he had the attention of.  
  
“You all are going to build me a suit using the material we use to create our P.H.A.N.T.O.M.S. Something Iron Man-esque. And use this meteorite to power it.”  
  
“But sir—” the scientist who was about to ask a question froze when Drake pointed at them.  
  
“Butts are what you all use to sit down when you want to test _my_ creations on animals. Now have my armor ready by tonight…,” Drake walked toward the exit. Once he walked past Skirth he said, “or else we’ll have better results with the _human trials_.”  
  
Dora sighed and balled up her fists when Drake was gone.  
  


* * *

  
Patrick Washington walked upstairs to see if Dominic was home already. It was one of those rare nights he was able to leave early from ESU and he picked up Dominic’s favorite food. He was about to call for Dominic until he heard him having a conversation.  
  
“Yeah, that thing knew Peter’s name, but it doesn’t mean he told it to attack Midtown High. Everyone’s just— Yes, he’s told me how he wants to go back to Horizon so badly, but that really has nothing to do with the monster attack. I mean Tony Stark has worked on a lot of things that end up getting used by supervillains and you don’t see anyone calling him a villain.”  
  
Patrick stroked his chin.  
  
“Liz, I’m just asking if you can get people to lay off of Peter. Seriously. It’s not fair how people are treating him just because he went to Horizon, came back, and wants to go back again. Sure...yeah...I understand. I’m glad you guys are doing okay. See ya later.”  
  
After hearing some silence longer than a few seconds, Patrick knocked on Dominic’s bedroom door and opened it.  
  
“Dad! Hey.”  
  
“Hey,” Patrick entered the room, “Is everything okay son? I’ve never heard you and Liz talk to each other like that.”  
  
“Remember that friend I told you about who helped me find the parts for my _former_ Horizon High project?”  
  
“Peter Porter.”  
  
Dominic rolled his eyes and smiled, “Parker. Peter Parker dad.”  
  
“Oh, I knew a Porter in high school,” Patrick smiled and sat down next to his son, “what’s going on between you, Liz, and Peter?”  
  
“This monster attacked Midtown High, blabbed about how Horizon experimented on it and how Peter was one of the students that worked on it, and now everyone in the school, except for a Mary Jane, Flash, a few students who plan on transferring, and teachers who aren’t Horizon bias are giving him a hard time for something he didn’t do. I was hoping Liz could do something as the student body president, but I should have known if Randy didn’t listen to me she wouldn’t either. She and Peter...are, not exactly BFFs.”  
  
“Then what are they?”  
  
“Classmates at best. Peter was apparently a huge flake and he often couldn’t keep up with the promises he made. A lot of those involved helping Liz and Ms. Marconi with stuff for Midtown High.”  
  
“Has Peter been going through a tough time recently?” Patrick asked.  
  
“Something happened at Horizon that got him kicked out and sent back to Midtown High. It was a misunderstanding and Max Modell has actually offered an open spot to him and a way for him to work out an enrollment plan. But Peter wants to use the money he’s saved up, and the open house to pay for his enrollment.”  
  
“Sounds like Peter’s a hard-working young man. Maybe he’s trying to do more than he can right now.”  
  
“That’s what I think. And honestly, I don’t blame him for wanting to go back to Horizon High. If my best friends were there I’d want to be with them too. I just hate that half the school thinks Peter did this on purpose. He wouldn’t put anyone in the hospital just to transfer to another school.”  
  
Patrick placed his hand on Dominic’s shoulder, “a lot of people do things we never expect them to do son. Happens every day in New York. But if you believe Peter didn’t cause any harm to Midtown High, then keep that belief and let him know you’re there for him if he needs someone.”  
  
Dominic smiled, “thanks, Dad.”  
  
“And Dominic.”  
  
“Yes, dad?”  
  
Patrick ruffled with his hair, “boy this hair makes me want to dunk you in the sink and wash all of this dye out. Then trim this mohawk down until your hair grows back normally.”  
  
Patrick looked at a photo on Dominic’s nightstand, “but I know it helps you feel closer to your mother.”  
  
“I still miss her.”  
  
Patrick pulled Dominic toward him and stroked his arm, “I do too. And I know she would proud of you. Following your passion and earning that grant to Horizon High. You’re an excellent student and a good person.”  
  
Dominic smiled, “thanks, dad.”  
  
“By the way, are those three boys still giving you trouble?” Patrick asked.  
  
“...no, no,” Dominic didn’t want his dad to worry about them, especially when he’d leave Trevor, Ramon, and Billy behind him.  
  
“Good,” Patrick stood up, “sometimes people will try to put you down, bring out the worst in you. When that happens, think about those who are closest to you and care about you. Positivity, not negativity.”  
  
“I’ll keep that in mind dad.”  
  
Patrick nodded, “got your favorite downstairs.”  
  
“Bronx-style Pepperoni and sausage pizza?” Dominic grinned.  
  
“Scratch that, it’s my favorite. Brooklyn deep dish,” Patrick chuckled, “boy you and your mother and pizza from the Bronx. Everyone knows it’s Brooklyn whose the pizza king.”  
  
“Yeah whatever dad,” Dominic chuckled.  
  
Scream, in her tsum-tsum form, scurried to Dominic from his computer desk after Patrick left.  
  
“So that is what it’s like to have a father?” Scream asked.  
  
Dominic held her in his lap, “yeah...BFFs are friends that are close as family, but family is beyond a friend.”  
  
“...am I family?” Scream asked.  
  
Dominic stroked her back, “most definitely.”  
  


* * *

  
_Big Ronnie’s Custom Battle Spandex_.  
  
Ghost-Spider and Spider-Girl told Dominic that this was the location they bought their costumes. According to the store’s website, he could have ordered a custom made one, but where’s the fun in that?  
  
“Yes, thank you for not wasting my time like girl with pink hair. She talk too much. You, you came, got, and paid. Good day!”  
  
Dominic let the store with a backpack filled with a few spandex suits, a couple of mask designs, and other items he could use to customize his outfit.  
  
 _That lady talks funny,_ Scream giggled.  
  
 _That’s not nice Scream...but you’re not wrong.  
  
So what are you going to do for the rest of the day?  
  
Well, I think I have everything I need for Horizon. We got the supplies for a new suit. Wanna go home and brainstorm ideas before we consult them with Spider-Girl and Ghost-Spider?  
  
Okay._  
  
Dominic ran into in allay and Scream formed his entire costume around his body. The only thing she didn’t form around was his backpack. Dominic leaped up a fire escape and began swinging in the direction toward his home.  
  
Then something triggered his spider-sense. Something hit him from behind and caused him to fall toward a rooftop. Dominic got up and looked around for what hit him.  
  
“Okay, my first time fighting a villain without the spider-team. No biggie,” Dominic reassured himself. “If Spider-Girl took down The Spot by herself, I can do this too.”  
  
“Do you really believe that _boy_?”  
  
Dominic looked up and did a double-take to make sure he was seeing things correctly. He almost thought the person hovering above him was Iron Man, but it wasn’t Tony Stark. At least not his armor, but he had many armors. This one was mounted on a glider used by that Hobgoblin guy last year. Not to mention that the armor was black and yellow.  
  
“Okay,” Dominic winced, “this is unexpected. So who are you supposed to be? Tony Stark? Or maybe one of those guys working for _Captain Cosplay_. Cause now that I think about your friends’ armor looked like bootleg versions of Iron Man’s too.”  
  
“You can call me...Virus, and trust me child my armor is far superior to that of Tony Stark’s.”  
  
 _Dominic_ , Scream called, _I...I feel the presence of a symbiote on this person, but somethings not right.  
  
Not right? How?  
  
...I sense the presence of another symbiote, but at the same time don’t sense the symbiote._  
  
Dominic took note of that before refocusing on this _Virus_.  
  
“Okay listen,” Dominic addressed Virus, “we don’t have to fight.”  
  
“Actually we do have to fight, _right now_ ,” Virus tossed round, metal objects at Dominic.  
  
He web-swinged out of the way and heard the metal balls go off. He turned around to see if they did any damage, but he received damage after his neck collided with Virus’ arm. Dominic gagged a little and recovered. He jumped off the building and used his web-wings to glide away from Virus.  
  
“You are aware that spiders don’t glide?” Virus thrust his arm and lasers shot out of his upper wrist. “Even the infamous peacock spider can’t use its flaps for air travel.”  
  
Dominic didn’t respond to that. Not even looking back, he continued gliding around.  
  
Virus chuckled, “what’s wrong _Spider-Boy_? I thought you and those other arachnids were the talkative ty—”  
  
Virus found himself entangled in multiple layers of webbing. Just like a fly a spider.  
  
Dominic jumped onto a part of the webbing, “the Spider-Men are the talkative ones. Spider-Girl, Ghost-Spider, and I...talk when our adrenaline is pumping. But that’s enough about me. Who are you, who sent you, and how did you get a symbiote? One that doesn’t appear to be alive for that matter?”  
  
Virus chuckled, “Intelligent questions. More than I expected from the likes of you.”  
  
“Can I get some intelligent answers?” Dominic asked impatiently.  
  
“If you...entertain me further,” Virus laughed.  
  
Dominic raised his eyebrow until he felt his spider-sense go off. Scream told him to do a backflip, and just in time, he dodged Virus’ glider. The glider freed Virus from his web trap.  
  
“Ready for round two, _boy_?”  
  


* * *

  
Peter remembered that when he and Harry became friends people would stare at them. Confused at how someone like Peter Parker; the nerd and the flake could be friends with someone that had a big name to them such as Harry Osborn. Though having a friend made it easier to ignore the opinions of others.  
  
Right now Peter wished he wasn’t sitting alone at lunch. He’d like to be sitting with friends, whether it was Harry, Miles, Gwen, Anya, or Dominic; heck he’d like to get together with all of them one day. Maybe Coney Island again? Hopefully without a _sandstorm_.  
  
Peter sighed as a paper ball landed in his mashed potatoes. He opened the note:  
  
 _Better not tell your nerd friends what we have planned for our game against does eggheads!_  
  
The note was obviously by Carl King. His handwriting is easy to recognize. And he used _does_ instead of _those_.  
  
Peter sighed and pulled out his phone. He didn’t notice Liz and Randy look at him as they walked by his table. Peter didn’t even notice Mary Jane staring at him since she sat down at her own table.  
  
“I can’t believe everyone thinks Peter actually let that...thing loose on Midtown,” Mary Jane sighed as Liz and Randy sat down.  
  
“Why are you and Dominic so hooked up on defending him?” Liz asked. “That creature said that Parker worked on it while at Horizon. That’s all the proof we need.”  
  
“Liz, you saw that even Peter was surprised at thing bursting through the door,” Mary Jane stated, “and why on Earth would he want something to attack Midtown in the first place?”  
  
“MJ, Parker doesn’t like Midtown. He made that obvious when he never bothered to visit last year, except for that one game...where Flash became that creature!” Liz argued.  
  
“And Flash said a piece of that creature fell on him at the Stark Expo,” Mary Jane argued back, “after he helped Tony Stark pull it off of Spider-Man.”  
  
“That doesn’t change how Peter acted when transferred back to Midtown High,” Randy said, finally joining the conversation. “He was reliable, turned in his assignments on time, straight-A student, and never made any excuses for the times he wasn’t reliable. A month later and he’s back to being unreliable, only excellent grades, and making excuses again.”  
  
“How are excellent grades a bad thing?” Mary Jane asked.  
  
“He was going to be on the school’s decathlon,” Randy said. “Now we’re down one person.”  
  
“Face it Mary Jane, Parker’s either up to something or he’s hiding something,” Liz said.  
  
Mary Jane chuckled, “Peter Parker, hiding something? That’s so—”  
  
Both of the television sets in the cafeteria turned on to show the Daily Bugles’ current report.  
  
“Ladies and gentlemen there appears to be a battle going on in Downtown Manhattan between one of Spider-Man’s associates and someone wearing metal armor and riding a glider-type device. This spider looks as if he is outmatched by this person in strength and tech. This reporter wonders if Spider-Man will show up to assist his friend, or leave them to do all the work like the other three who fought Scorpion and Tinkerer a few months ago.”  
  
When Liz and Mary Jane looked away from the television, both girls noticed that Peter was gone.  
  


* * *

  
“I thought you were supposed to be a superhero Spider- _Boy_ ,” Virus lobbed bombs at Spider-Boy as the arachnid tried to dodge them all. Virus was getting a delight out of this, more than he anticipated. “All I see is a scared child. The _boy_ and not the spider.”  
  
 _I just don’t get this Scream,_ Dominic muttered, _if this guy’s armor is powered by a symbiote in some way he isn’t using any symbiote abilities like Venom. And even without him sprouting a tendril or two his already tough.  
  
Maybe Virus is somehow using the symbiote as a power source for his armor. My kind adapts to many things Dominic, many things that we would be unaware of until trying or being forced to try._  
  
Dominic ducked behind a Daily Bugle Billboard.  
  
 _Dominic,_ Scream hummed, _I know this is a bad time, but I think I would like Ghost-Spider to study me, see if she can improve me._  
  
Dominic smiled, _like I said before, the choice is yours to make and I’ll support you one hundred percent._  
  
“I see you…”  
  
Dominic and Scream felt their spider-sense go off and jumped just as part of the billboard was blown to smithereens. Another got close to Dominic and the impact sent him flying and rolling across a rooftop. When he sprung up, he felt his backpack. He was surprised it was still intact.  
  
When Virus descended, Dominic was on his knees, breathing from fatigue.  
  
“So much potential, so much power,” Virus said as Dominic looked up at him, “and still you limit yourself...for _them_.”  
  
Dominic stood up.  
  
“You know Spider-Man doesn’t trust you, not with that symbiote you’re bonded to. You know that if you show him and his little friends' signs that you are superior to them, they’ll turn against you.”  
  
“I don’t limit myself,” Dominic stated, “I prefer to fight like this. I prefer to fight like Spider-Man.”  
  
Virus jumped off his glider and laughed, “usually kids want to be like _Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, or Thor_. You’re an odd one _boy,_ but it is the odd ones who are different; who always have potential.”  
  
Virus held his hand, offering it to Dominic, “come with me, and I can make your stronger than any of the heroes that populate this city. I can make your wildest dreams come true. And with all of that, you will be able to make anyone submit to your whim. You appear to be the age of a teenager...you gather yourself up a group of concu—”  
  
“Just shut up…” Dominic lowered his hand after shooting a web-ball and ran toward Virus.  
  
Virus had pulled the webbing from his helmet and caught Dominic’s hands before he could throw a punch.  
  
“Is this what Spider-Man has taught you, _boy_?” Virus asked, “only a child would be blind and through themselves at the enemy like this.”  
  
Dominic didn’t answer. He only waited for Virus to let go of him. Then when Virus made a swing he jumped over him and wrapped webbing around his body. His arms were stuck to his sides. Virus used flew toward the sky with the thrusters in his armor, dragging Dominic with him.  
  
This was part of Dominic’s plan. He’s seen a video of _Spider-Man_ fighting Iron Man and using this technique to gain the upper hand on him. He didn’t know the origin of their bout, but Spider-Man wrecked Iron Man, literally. The second Virus takes a swan dive—  
  
“Clever plan _boy_ ,” Virus’ armor shot off an amp pulse, electrocuting Dominic and Scream, “but I don’t let anyone manipulate my actions. I do the manipulating. And if this pain doesn’t manipulate you to give me a real fight, then maybe a quick dive will.”  
  
Virus grabbed Dominic by the neck and flew toward the ground, letting gravity increase his speed. “Now now, die on me yet. I WANT BOTH OF YOU TO SHOW ME WHY YOU ARE MY PERFECTED SYM-SOLDIER!”  
  
“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”  
  
Before having time to react, Virus saw a red blur and felt a blow across his face.  
  
Spider-Man dove down and got up under Dominic. When he had him on his back, Spider-Man released his web-wings and flew toward the streets. Once they landed safely, he looked up at Virus.  
  
Whoever was in the armor looked back at him until his glider returned. Virus flew away.  
  


* * *

  
“Spider...Man?”  
  
“Relax there, you and Scream need to rest.”  
  
Dominic remembered now, “what happened to Virus?”  
  
“Virus?” Spider-Man realized he meant the guy in the yellow and black armor, “he left as soon as I showed up, but I placed a spider-tracer on him. I’ll find him.”  
  
Dominic stood up. He could feel Scream waking up too. She reformed around his body. “Are you going to call Spider-Girl, Ghost-Spider, and the other Spider-Man for backup?”  
  
“I was going to follow our mysterious man in metal, see where he’s going to first. If it’s not dangerous then I’ll call them,” Spider-Man said.  
  
Dominic nodded, “good. Because I have to get ready for Horizon in the morning, and after fighting Virus I think I’ll be snoozing my alarm in the morning...”  
  
Spider-Man placed a hand on his shoulder, “you and Scream get some rest. One of the most important things about being a hero is knowing when to fight and when to let yourself have a break. Advice, that I really need to follow myself.”  
  
Dominic nodded. Before he swung Spider-Man called him again.  
  
“And Spider-Boy...Dominic, you held your own pretty well. You and Scream.”  
  
Dominic smiled, “thanks Spider-Man.”  
  
After Dominic swung off Spider-Man pulled up the G.P.S in his web-shooter and was on his way too.  
  


* * *

  
“Really subtle.”  
  
The Life Foundation. Spider-Man lost his tracers' signal as soon as he arrived at a building near the facility. He already had a feeling this new villain would lead back to the Life Foundation. He wanted to see what was going on in there, this time thinking of disregarding what Chief Watanabe told him months prior...he shook off the thought of what happened around that time. The lunch period was about to end soon and he needed to get back to Midtown before he was caught off-campus.  
  
Spider-Man took off for Queens, swinging as fast as he could. Ock’s been defeated, Venom’s recently been defeated, and now Carlton Drake is up to something and the Jackal is back. Spider-Man took a deep breath.  
  
 _It’s like Gwen said, we take everything one step at a time._  
  


* * *

  
“Well now, that was quite the workout.”  
  
Drake placed Spider-Man’s tracer on a table and smashed it to pieces with a hammer. That came as a surprise to Doctor Skirth and the rest of Drake’s scientist since he always salvaged tech or “borrowed” ideas that have been discarded by others.  
  
“So the suit was a success, sir?” asked one of his scientists.  
  
“A success with much, much more potential,” Drake laughed, “that meteor puts Starks arc reactors to shame. The only downside is that it doesn’t allow access to the powers of our little lab experiments.”  
  
Drake walked over to his collection of symbiotes. As he placed his hands on the glass, they swarmed around like insects.  
  
Drake turned back to his employees, “as you all know I’ll be away on a business trip soon. In the meantime, I want you all to work on the symbiotes, and make _real progress_ and not another successful bonding attempt to a bunny rabbit or a tweety bird.”  
  
Doctor Skirth held her clipboard when Drake looked at her.  
  
“And after Saturday, I’ll have something else for you all to experiment on. Something that will hopefully help us in the near future.”  
  
 _The Seed_.  
  
Drake never let the words from Venom escape his mind. He didn’t let any of the information Venom passed down to him be lost in a sea of thoughts. Right now, without the knowledge of his scientists, Drake was working privately on a personal project with three of the symbiotes he kept at his home. The meteorite that was in Drake’s Virus suit was only a small shard.  
  
What he had in mind for the rest of the meteorite was a resurrection. Or going by how Venom described it…  
  
Reincarnation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if all of the teenage vigilantes in the comics go to Ronnie's Custom Battle Spandex for their outfits. And yes that was a reference to Gwenpoole.:)
> 
> The later half of this chapter was going to be about Dominic designing his costume, but after reading the first part of Venom Beyond I thought, wouldn't it be cool if Carlton Drake wore the Virus Armor? I honestly wasn't expecting Mac Gargan to have been Virus when that revealed in Venom's comic series, but the designs cool, no?
> 
> The next chapter will show Dominic's first day at Horizon, and the one after that one I had a bit of writer's block because I didn't plan the climax out that well. It still carries the story forward.


	10. A New Horizon

****

**Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes  
Chapter 10**

* * *

  
"I thought you were supposed to be a superhero."  
  
"All I see is a scared child."  
  
"So much potential, so much power, and still you limit yourself...for _them_."  
  
"I don't let anyone manipulate my actions. I do the manipulating."  
  
"SHOW ME WHY YOU ARE MY PERFECTED SYM-SOLDIER!"  
  
"Show me, Dominic. Dominic. Dominic!"  
  
"Son!"  
  
Dominic yelped and breathed heavily. He felt a hand on his shoulder and followed the arm to see his father. They were in his father's car, across the street from Horizon High in Manhattan.  
  
 _Was I daydreaming the entire time?_ Dominic pondered.  
  
"I've heard of first day jitters, but sweats?" Mr. Washing handed Dominic a clean hand towel he kept in the car, "here."  
  
"Thanks dad…" Dominic muttered, "it's just…a lot has happened recently."  
  
"Those two attacks at Midtown High?"  
  
 _Three attacks_ , Dominic gave him back the towel, "among other things."  
  
"Liz and Randy?"  
  
"That would be one of them," it wasn't what Dominic was thinking about, but it hurt just as much as that little daydream, "I asked if they wanted to meet at Joes' after school, or just any day this week. They're not replying to my messages or answering my calls. This can't be because of Horizon, they supported me when I told them about it."  
  
Dominic held his arm and sighed, "I guess this is because of the situation with Peter, but he's my friend even if I haven't known him for too long. And he had nothing to do with V—that creature."  
  
Mr. Washington placed a hand on Dominic's shoulder, "I can't say that I've been in a situation like this. My friends...I had to let go because they made choices in life that my parents would be ashamed of if they heard I took part in them. Liz and Randy, nothing like my friends. They have their heads on their shoulders and their minds out of the gutter. But if you feel like they're being unfair to another friend of yours, you need to think about the right thing...even if it hurts someone."  
  
Dominic nodded, "dad, have you ever done something on impulse because of someone else?"  
  
"What? You mean like a dare?"  
  
"Less of a dare, more of a challenge. But that challenge affected your future."  
  
Mr. Washington smiled, "I was dared to steal from a corner in my neighborhood when I was about your age."  
  
Dominic couldn't believe that.  
  
"But instead of stealing from the store, a little lady stole my heart. And I was offered a job that helped me through high school and apply for college."  
  
Dominic had a feeling he knew who that _little lady_ was.  
  
"And speaking of high school, I think you need to get going," Mr. Washington unlocked the passenger door, "have nice a day Dominic."  
  
"You too dad."  
  


* * *

  
_This school is still as huge as the last time. How will you find your way around it, Dominic?  
  
Pretty sure I saw a map in that front lobby, but I'll get used to it._  
  
Horizon High, though Dominic thinks it should have been called _Horizon University_. Since it was early in the morning, there were more students around. Many of them were carrying boxes full of supplies or carrying what could be their own projects. One thing for sure is that the building was busy. Dominic couldn't even ask for directions.  
  
"Okay, the first place I should go is Mr. Modell's office for my lab and locker," the thought of having a lab, let alone his own room at school was still interesting to Dominic. That would beat the study hall anytime.  
  
Mr. Modell's office wasn't hard to miss since the windows around the door are see-through. There was one person in Modell's office that Dominic wasn't expecting to see.  
  
 _Carlton Drake_. Dominic noticed that Mr. Modell motioned for him to come inside. When the doors slide open, Drake turned around briefly, looked at Dominic, and smiled. Dominic never forgot Spider-Man's words from the robot attack at Midtown nor the accusations on Peter at the hospital, but Drake did seem like an average businessman. If anything was off about him, Scream would have told him.  
  
"I...understand Max," Drake let his hands descend to his sides, "research like that should not fall into the wrong hands, despite all the good it could possibly do in the world."  
  
Max nodded, "thank you for understanding Carlton. If that's all, you see that I have a new student here."  
  
"Of course," Drake turned around and walked toward the door, "Mr. Washington."  
  
"Sir!" Dominic said as Drake passed him. He didn't look suspicious, but Dominic did feel nervous around him. Was it because of Scream coming from the Life Foundation or because Trevor was his son?  
  
"Good morning Dominic," Max said when Dominic approached his desk.  
  
"Same to you Mr. Modell," Dominic smiled. "Did you remember from the other day or I'm on a list?"  
  
"Both," Max chuckled, "now about your lab and locker."  
  
Max gave Dominic a combination to his lab and locker and a nameplate to put next to the door of his lab. He showed Dominic to his lab, which was near that Think Tank Anya showed him during their tour. Looking around, his lab was actually near the labs of Anya, Gwen, and Peter's other friend Miles.  
  
 _I guess looking for them won't be a problem now_.  
  
Dominic and Max entered the lab. It was...smaller than Dominic expected and Max took notice of his reaction.  
  
"Many of our students have other interests besides what is taught in our classes. Feel free to decorate the lab as you see fit."  
  
"Thanks, Mr. Modell," Dominic said.  
  
"Just Max is fine."  
  
"Thanks, Max."  
  
With no more questions, Max left Dominic to get himself situated. The lab had two tables, a chair, a computer, a window, and a couple of shelves. Scream hopped out of Dominic's backpack and onto his desk in her tsum-tsum form. Dominic rolled his eyes as she crawled around everything like a cat.  
  
"Done marking your territory?"  
  
Scream looked at Dominic and then at the room. She lowered herself from the ceiling by a spider web (tendril) and plopped into the chair, making it spin around. When Dominic smiled, cocked his head to the side, and placed his hands on his hips she spun the chair one more time.  
  
Scream smiled cheekily, "done!"  
  
"Good, now you have a fun little playground while I'm in class," Dominic said as he looked at his schedule and the time.  
  
"I can't come with you?"  
  
Dominic looked up from his phone, "oh, I thought you'd rather hang in here. You have some room to run around and stretch your tendrils."  
  
"But I want to see more of the school first…" Scream poked out her lips.  
  
"Okay Scream, that's not going to work for you."  
  
Scream turned on her back as if to play possum.  
  
Dominic chuckled, "okay you can come, but remember this is just like Midtown. And since this is also a research facility in addition to a school we really don't need anyone finding out about you."  
  
"Correct. So what's first on our agenda?"  
  
Dominic looked at his schedule, "a lot of science and mathematics classes, more so science. How hard could they be?"  
  


* * *

  
When a teacher hands out a surprise quiz to a student who has never taken their course before, that gives an idea of a class's difficulty. That's to say if the three previous classes weren't equally as tough. New students were usually given a pass to catch up with the rest of the class. At Horizon, they expected everyone to be on their speed.  
  
Dominic sat at one of the outside tables with a sandwich. Of course, he remembered to get Scream her chocolate. He only wished the outdoors would lighten his mood to be like Scream's excitement while she devoured her candy. Maybe he needed someone to talk to.  
  
Dominic pulled out his phone and dialed Randy's number. He needed to mend what had Randy and Liz not speaking to him.  
  
"Yo, you've reached future journalist Randy Robertson!"  
  
"Hey, Randy—"  
  
"Sorry, I can't answer your call right, but I'll get back to you as soon as you can."  
  
"Let's try Liz," Dominic dialed her number and it canceled on him. "And this confirms that my two friends are not talking to me."  
  
Scream hopped out of Dominic's bag and onto the table. He quickly looked around to make sure no one saw Scream.  
  
 _Why don't you call Peter?  
  
And tell him that I called him because my two best friends are angry because I don't think you're trying to sabotage Midtown? That would make Peter feel bad.  
  
Mary Jane?  
  
I talked to her about it already and Liz and Randy are brushing her off too.  
  
Maybe make some new friends?  
  
I'm still a new student. It's kind of hard for new students to make friends on the first day._  
  
Scream kept Dominic from hearing her say that humans are a complicated species. Then she saw three people approaching their table.  
  
 _Heart._  
  
Dominic looked at his symbiote sister. _Heart?  
  
Heart.  
  
Heart…  
  
Heart. To your left._  
  
Dominic looked to his left and saw Anya, Gwen, and Miles. Scream was saying Anya's last name, _Corazon_ , which meant heart.  
  
"Hey Anya, Gwen," Dominic looked at Miles, "and...Miles, right?"  
  
"Cool you remembered me," Miles chuckled, "and you're Donovan."  
  
"...Dominic."  
  
"My bad," Miles chuckled. Now he owed Gwen five dollars. "So how are you enjoying Horizon so far?"  
  
"Should I enjoy taking four different tests on my first day, and having no clue on the material?" Dominic asked.  
  
"And in Mr. Lamaz's class it doesn't get any better from there," Anya said, "you looked like you wanted Thor to strike you with lightning."  
  
"We were in the same class?" Dominic asked.  
  
"Yep. I would have joined you, but the row was full."  
  
"But don't worry, you'll get used to everything in no time," Gwen reassured.  
  
"I'm not sure about that," Dominic said, "what you guys do here is incredible. I heard a few students mention that Miles created these security robots floating around. A fifteen-year-old creating security for a high school/research facility?"  
  
"A fifteen-year-old who added a disco ball to said security robots," Gwen smirked.  
  
"That function was added during this school year...and everyone loved it," Miles stated.  
  
"Yeah Dominic, everyone's inventions are based on their own ideas and experiences," Anya said.  
  
"You made an invention right?" Gwen asked. "Peter may have mentioned it a few times."  
  
"It was kind of wrecked by this creature that attacked Midtown High," Dominic chuckled.  
  
"Well expect that to happen at Horizon a lot," Miles said. "That might sound bad, but sometimes having to rebuild your projects helps you find ways to improve them."  
  
"Improve huh?" that did give Dominic a little idea.  
  
"You know, now that your an official student there is a place we can show you now," Anya said.  
  
"That gravity room!" Dominic exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah, let's go there before our break is over," Miles said.  
  
"That's not where I was referring to…," Anya sighed.  
  
"Then where?" Dominic asked.  
  


* * *

  
"The Project Graveyard!"  
  
Anya, Miles, and Gwen led Dominic to a room with, purposely, dim lighting and a bunch of items lying around. Dominic picked a stick-like device.  
  
"Uh you might want to put that down," Anya suggested.  
  
Dominic looked at it more thoroughly, "why? What does it do?"  
  
"It's _my_ scrambler," Anya explained, "and it can malfunction any piece of tech within its range. Unfortunately, it didn't pass safety regulations…"  
  
"Sorry to hear that," Dominic said as he sat the scrambler back down. "So every project in this room didn't mean expectations?"  
  
"Well Max doesn't want us to view it that way," Gwen explained, "he says that the Project Graveyard is to be viewed as motivation for us to work around obstacles and improve over want went wrong the first time."  
  
"Even if it involves an inventor or to getting destroyed," Anya said while eyeing a device behind the protective covering.  
  
"Hey!" everyone looked at Miles and saw that he turned a device that was slicing bread. Not the crust or a loaf, but the bread slice. "I forgot about my bread slicer. Nice to see that it still works."  
  
"A bread slicer?" Dominic whispered to Gwen.  
  
"That part of the room isn't the Project Graveyard...and surprisingly a lot of people actually liked the idea of a bread slicer," Gwen smiled and elbowed Dominic, "see, no such thing as a ridiculous idea if you get it to work as planned."  
  
Dominic did feel a little better, but there was still one problem, "any advice for passing our classes?"  
  
He felt Anya pat his backpack, "hit the books, my friend."  
  
"Of course," Dominic chuckled.  
  


* * *

  
"A...keytar?"  
  
"Think of it as an improvement over my last project."  
  
Dominic was surprised at how late students were allowed to stay at Horizon after hours, but it was cool that he could use the school's equipment to work on his new project. A sonic-wave _key_ tar. Basically, a piano keyboard that functions like a guitar. And in his opinion, it was going to look cooler than the guitar.  
  
"Do you know how to play that Dominic?" Scream asked.  
  
"Of course, and yet I don't know how to play the piano," Dominic chuckled.  
  
Dominic aimed the keytar at a glass of water and pressed the first key. The sound wave made a ripple in the water. He pressed the second key and it made the glass shake a little. The third key made the glass shake violently. When he played all of the keys together it made the glass crack.  
  
"Best defense mechanism is when you don't know how to play the invention itself," Dominic smiled.  
  
"I'm happy to see that you're upbeat again," Scream said.  
  
"Yeah...me too," Dominic pulled out his phone to see if he had any missed calls or text messages. _Nothing…_ he sighed. _It'll be okay. I'll work things out with them when I can._  
  
Dominic pulled out the items he bought from Ronnie's Custom Battle Spandex. They miraculously survived his encounter with Virus, just as he and Scream did. That guy, if they were a guy in symbiote-powered armor, was a memory Dominic couldn't let go of.  
  
He could have sworn Virus called him by his name after shouting Spider-Boy so many times. But the lack of oxygen from his throat being crushed by Virus' grip and the altitude woozy.  
  
Scream couldn't remember either, for she was weakened from having to use so much webbing against Virus during the fight.  
  
Dominic hoped that Spider-Man was able to find out information about him.  
  


* * *

  
There was something nice about working on projects at Horizon during the evening hours to Miles. Maybe it was the satisfaction of a hard day's work, or that he could goof around without Gwen and Anya ruining his moment. Every time he tries to record a voice mail with his 'assistant' answering the line, Gwen ruins it by not only getting her voice in the audio but by revealing Miles was the voice of his assistant. It's not like the person on the other line would know that… unless it was his parents… or Peter… or Max… or anyone else he talks to at Horizon.  
  
Since no one was around now, Miles pulled out his phone. "Miles can't come to the phone right now, this is his assistant—"  
  
Miles heard some noise coming from the Think Tank. He hoped it wasn't another villain breaking in. But if it was a villain then his security bots would have been after them… and most likely destroyed by them right now.  
  
This Miles heard a yell and picked up his pace. When he got into the room, he saw Spider-Boy… Dominic wearing his Spider-Boy mask. Dominic turned around but it appeared he didn't know Miles was in the room. The right lens in his mask was glitching out. Miles didn't even know Dominic had lenses in his mask. Maybe Peter fixed it up for him?  
  
Dominic finally took his mask off and noticed Miles. "M—Miles!" He grinned nervously, "I know what this looks like… "  
  
"Yeah, you're working on a mask for that contest by the Daily Bugle," Miles said, playing oblivious. "Peter said you were going to sing about Spider-Man right? Make sense that you'd get your spidey on for your performance."  
  
"Right," Dominic smiled, "it's like a persona… or _spidersona_. That'd make an awesome band name. _Spider-Boy and the Spidersonas!_ "  
  
Miles smirked, "you mean _Dominic and the Spidersonas._ "  
  
"Right."  
  
"So about that lens in your mask," Miles took a look at the mask before Dominic could say anything. "That should fix it."  
  
"Y—you… what was wrong with it?"  
  
"The lens you picked up had a loose circuit, that's all," Miles chuckled.  
  
Dominic put his mask back on. Now the right lens was functioning how it should. "Thanks, Miles."  
  
"Hey, no problem. That's what friends are for," Miles said.  
  
"Friends," Dominic chuckled. He barely knew them, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't think of Miles, Anya, and Gwen as friends. His friends from Horizon.  
  
"You okay?" Miles asked.  
  
"Yeah, I was just thinking about my friends from Midtown. Say, Miles, have you ever been in a situation where you had to…choose between your friends?"  
  
"Choose between them?"  
  
"As in two of your friends are upset with another friend and they're a little unfair to this other friend and don't understand why you are taking up for them… something like that."  
  
 _Something like that_. Miles did know the feeling. Covering for Peter, and sadly it was when Ock was in Peter's body where he had to calm Gwen and Anya down against their 'friend'. Before then there were times when the two, especially Anya, grew cross and curious at Peter's disappearing acts.  
  
"You should try and have your friends see things from your other friend's point of view," Miles hoped that was a good answer.  
  
"I'll try that… thanks again Miles," Dominic smiled. "That whole Venom attack has Midtown a bit on edge."  
  
"If I had to take a guess this 'friend' is Peter?"  
  
Dominic nodded, "I think everyone just wants someone to blame. I just never expected my friends to be like that. I mean one of them doesn't exactly have the best relationship with Peter, but her behavior… actually both of them have been acting differently lately. I haven't been able to speak with them since they aren't answering my calls."  
  
Miles placed a hand on his shoulder, "give them some time. They'll come around."  
  
"Yeah… your right," Dominic said. Suddenly, his phone rang. To his surprise it was Liz, "you don't mind if I…,"  
  
Miles smiled, holding his hand in a 'go-ahead' motion.  
  
Dominic pressed the answer button on his stark phone, "hey Liz. I guess you got my text messages."  
  
"Yeah, and I wanted to apologize for… how I acted," Liz said on the other end. "I guess it was just stress from being attacked by that thing you know. Randy said he'd talk to you after he and his dad gets back home from the Bugle. I...I just don't know what I was thinking, why we were so hard on Peter. I mean, don't get me wrong, he is still a flake, but he isn't _that_ bad. MJ suggested something a few weeks ago when school was closed after that robot attack. It was something to make Parker… Peter feels more at home before he transferred back to Horizon. Maybe it could help build better bridges between Midtown and Horizon. Though it is a last-minute sort of thing."  
  
Miles heard Dominic say 'uh-huh' over and over again. His voice rising in excitement each time. A few minutes later, Dominic said goodbye to his friend and turned back to Miles.  
  
"Miles, what do you think Max would say to a school dance after tomorrow's football game?" Dominic asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say other than that this is a transition chapter.
> 
> Currently writing the fourteenth chapter and...I wouldn’t say I’m having writers' block, but my job’s getting worse and more strainful each month, especially with the current pandemic going on. I couldn’t even get healthy sleep over the weekend or outline another Spider-Man story that I really want to begin. Hopefully, after December it’ll get easier.
> 
> Thanks for reading the story and everyone stay safe for yourself, for your family, and for others.


	11. Dance Dance Disaster

**Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes  
Chapter 11**

* * *

“A… A party? Like a normal party? Just a normal part with no—”  
  
“Pete…,”  
  
“A dance party. Got it.”  
  
Peter only recently _got it_. It was the middle of the day at Midtown and just now were posters being put up advertising the dance at Horizon High after tonight’s game, which was Horizon vs Midtown. He was pretty sure that only the winning team had parties—and that rival schools never held conjoining parties. But if it would mend anything between the two schools that was the important thing. Plus it was great that Dominic, Liz, and Randy were speaking to each other again.  
  
“So how did Anya react to Horizon having another dance party?” Peter asked Miles over the phone. “Did she at least go easy on him since he’s new?”  
  
Miles scoffed, "I’ll say. Remember when you suggested that dance by accident last year? She slapped my shoulder for not talking Dominic out of this one. She has spider-powers now Pete. It hurt man… it really hurt.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
Miles chuckled, “no… but she didn’t have to hit me. So are you coming to the dance?”  
  
“Oh well you know I have to get ready for the open house tomorrow so….”  
  
“Peter!” Mary Jane said as she approached him.  
  
“Mary Jane,” Peter smiled.  
  
“Were you planning on going to that dance at Horizon tonight?” She asked. “I was wondering if we could go together. As friends. You know, since I’m staying at my aunt’s house now and you know where Horizon is… well better to walk together than alone right.”  
  
“R—right!” Peter said.  
  
“So see you at seven?”  
  
“Seven sounds good.”  
  
“Great, I’ll see you then,” Mary Jane waved goodbye as she left Peter to his locker.  
  
Peter leaned against it, “guess I’m going to the dance after all.”  
  
“ **Dude you have a date!** ”  
  
Miles's outburst almost made Peter drop his phone.  
  
“You heard all of that?” He asked Miles. “And no, we’re going as friends.”  
  
“Sure you are,” Miles chuckled, “and you said you were the nerd of Midtown. Very sly Pete, very sly.”  
  
“You have a date?” Peter asked mockingly.  
  
“Maybe,” Miles answered quickly.  
  
“When answering like that it usually means—”  
  
“You’re breaking up Pete, must be the connection.”  
  
“You’re not making the static sound…”  
  
“I’ll see you tonight!” Miles hung up on his end.  
  
Peter slid his phone into his pocket. “Mary Jane and I are going to the dance as friends. No different from when Harry and I went as friends… except Mary Jane is a girl and Harry is a boy. But it isn’t a date… I better not tell Aunt May or she’ll have a field day.”  
  


* * *

  
“If you’re done talking on the phone, can you help us Miles?” Gwen asked as Miles was the only one in the room not doing anything at the moment.  
  
Like the Halloween Party last year, they were using the main lobby for the festivities. The Think Tank would have been illuminated by the buildings in the area, but the main lobby was big enough to hold both Horizon and Midtown students. When the rest of the students went on a short break, it gave Miles, Gwen, and Anya some time to _spidey-up_ the workflow. The hardest part, anything hanging from the ceiling, was taken care of.  
  
“We got the dance floor, the disco ball, the decorations, the music…,” Miles smiled and looked around the lobby, “am I missing anything?”  
  
“Dance skills,” Gwen and Anya said in unison.  
  
“While the two of you are mocking my dance skills, I haven’t seen either of you dance before,” Miles said. “I bet five dollars that both of you are worse dancers than me.”  
  
Gwen smirked and popped her fingers, “challenge excepted Morales. Anya, music please.”  
  
As Gwen got on the dancer floor, Anya turned on the music player.  
  
Gwen began with the basic breaking dance move, the up rocking. Then she did the arm wave followed by the Egyptian.  
  
Miles rolled his eyes, that was the same way he moved his arms, at least it was to himself.  
  
“Oh, break dancing!” Dominic came in from the front doors and ran up to the stage. “Mind if I join?”  
  
“I don’t mind sharing the spotlight,” Gwen smiled, “but can you keep up?”  
  
“We’ll see,” Dominic said as he followed Gwen’s movements.  
  
They went through the basic steps again, so Dominic could ease in and relax his muscles. Then they took it up a notch. Floor rocking, hang gliding, back spinning, and, no pun intended, the spider. Then the two went back and did variations of the previous steps until they ended with a freeze, both doing different poses from each other.  
  
“Well done you two,” Anya clapped.  
  
“Okay, that was cool and all but it’s like they say,” Miles got on the dancer floor as Gwen and Dominic gave it to him, “anything you can do, I can do better.”  
  
Miles started dancing, but he wasn’t doing any of the standing breakdance moves. He was doing the robot, a good robot, but when he did the lower breakdancing moves they weren’t on step. And then he attempted to spin on his head and lower to his back. Well, he did manage to get on his back.  
  
“Hey, why are there three of each of you?” Miles asked drowsily.  
  
“Because you just shook your brain like a magic eight ball,” Anya said as she, Gwen, and Dominic helped Miles to his feet.  
  
“How’d I do—Dominic!” Miles said before Anya and Gwen could say anything.  
  
Dominic tucked in his lips before saying, “you’re a pro at the robot.”  
  
“But how was my break dancing?”  
  
“You’re a pro at the robot,” Dominic repeated.  
  
“And you owe me five dollars,” Gwen reminded.  
  
Miles took out his wallet and handed her five dollars. Anya held out her hands as well.  
  
“You never danced,” Miles said.  
  
“You never said both of us had two,” Anya said.  
  
“Well, there’s a dance floor right there.”  
  
“I don’t dance.”  
  
“Like never?” Dominic asked. “Break dancing takes a lot of practice, but not even a normal dance?”  
  
“It’s… just not my thing,” Anya answered, crossing her arms.  
  
“Or Anya Corazon finally admits to not missing perfect at everything.”  
  
That voice made Anya, Gwen, and Miles sigh in annoyance, especially Anya. A girl with dark skin, black hair, and an orange shirt approached the group.  
  
“I thought you excelled at everything Anya,” the girl got in Anya’s face, “Are you telling me a little dance is too hard for miss ‘I need to build a case for all my awards’?”  
  
“Sajani,” Anya muttered, “I’m just not interested in huge parties or dancing okay.”  
  
“Kay,” Sajani chuckled, “but those who say they’re not interested in something are usually the ones who are afraid of failing. Which fits a little miss perfectionist like you.”  
  
“Right, and you have never shown signs of perfectionism,” Gwen said.  
  
“Well some of us need to claim our rightful place as the Horizon’s valedictorian when graduation comes around,” Sajani looked at Miles, “and part of that comes from hanging around the right people. Unlike Morales and—”  
  
Sajani stared at Dominic, realizing that he wasn’t Peter. Anya, Gwen, and Miles hung out with him so much that you could say they were their own little circle of friends. Though Dominic was… a new face.  
  
“Hi, I’m Dominic Washington. Just transferred from Midtown High…,” Dominic backed away a little since Sajani was now in his personal space.  
  
“Oh, a Midtown Tiger, do you play—”  
  
“Music. I play guitar and sing, but I only signed up for choir the first semester,” Dominic smiled, “I mean who wants to sing the same songs each semester, right?”  
  
“Branching out on your own,” Sajani shook Dominic’s hand, “Show’s initiative, I like that quality in people… and potential partners. Plan on going to the dance.”  
  
“Yes, but I was planning on going—”  
  
“By yourself?” Sajani placed her hand on Dominic’s shoulder and smiled coyly. “That’s crazy, especially for a new student.”  
  
“And if you had let him finish—” Anya suddenly locked her arms with Dominic, “Dominic would have told you that he was planning on going with me… as my date to the dance.”  
  
Gwen covered her mouth with her fist as Miles stared on in surprise. Sajani noticed their expressions and then looked back to Anya and Dominic. She studied Dominic’s expression.  
  
“I thought you said _‘I don’t dance’_ Corazon?”  
  
Anya pursed her lips and then smiled, “Friends, I can make an exception for.”  
  
Sajani looked at Dominic, “Friends… and he just transferred?”  
  
“Peter Parker introduced me to Anya, Gwen, and Miles on a field trip to the Life Foundation,” Dominic smiled, “and Anya gave me a tour of Horizon the previous week.”  
  
“Okay,” Sajani shrugged her shoulders, “you made a promise and have to commit to it… but if you want a real dance, then look me up at the party tonight.”  
  
Sajani turned around and walked away from the group. She made sure to put some rhythm in each step as she walked.  
  
“That was… unexpected,” Dominic said flatly.  
  
Anya smiled, “yeah, Horizon has its share of vanity.”  
  
“I know someone who would be a perfect date for her, but he’s usually someone I _shouldn’t_ be setting up on a date… with anyone,” Dominic admitted.  
  
“If he’s just like Sajani, then this could be an exception.”  
  
“I don’t think even Sajani should be this guy’s date considering that he has big hands and _butterfingers._ ”  
  
“Speaking of hands,” Gwen elbowed Anya, “aren’t you going to let go of Dominic’s hand before you bruise it, Anya?”  
  
Anya let go of Dominic’s hand as soon as Gwen said that. She chuckled a little all eyes were on her.  
  
“Um, I know you don’t want to go as a date or dance at the party Anya so—”  
  
“Well… I meant what I said about making exceptions for friends,” Anya admitted, “and Sajani already thinks we’re going together. Not to mention she might be after you if I leave you alone.”  
  
Dominic chuckled, “never thought I would need a bodyguard until I was famous… if I ever become famous. So are we going to meet at the dance or should I pick you up?”  
  
“You wouldn’t mind stopping by my house?” Anya asked. “If photos are taken my dad’s going to ask… and I rather he know you’re not my boyfriend now than ask a ton of questions later.”  
  
“Sure,” Dominic said.  
  
“Great,” Anya grabbed Gwen’s arm, “and I could use your help with something.”  
  
Anya dragged Gwen to another part of the school, leaving Dominic and Miles alone.  
  
“Have you met Anya’s father?” Dominic asked.  
  
Miles smiled, “nope. I can’t help you out on that one pal.”  
  
Dominic pursed his lips, “are you and Gwen…”  
  
“She’s going with _Grady Scraps_ ,” Miles chuckled. “I’m going to win over the ladies with my dance moves.”  
  
“Well—good—luck—with—that!” Dominic did an imitation of Miles’ robot dance.  
  
Miles jabbed him in the shoulder and both of them laughed.  
  


* * *

  
“I don’t care about your moral ethics Doctor Skirth! Those samples will be needed for later in case of my associates return. And if not that, then they will serve more uses for my Foundation!”  
  
Trevor, Ramon, and Billy walked in on Drake, Trevor’s father, talking to one of his workers. They noticed three jars with strange liquids on his table: blue-silver, green, and orange. After Ramon picked up the green one is when Drake noticed them. He hung up the phone and took the jar away from Ramon.  
  
“Be careful with that Ramon,” Drake stated, “these are highly unstable… chemicals. And you have skin revealing.”  
  
“Sorry about that sir,” Ramon apologized.  
  
“Is there something I can help you, boys, with?”  
  
“Actually dad there’s a dance tonight and I was wondering if we could have a few dollars to rent some tux’s after tonight’s game?” Trevor asked.  
  
Drake smiled, “of course. Champions have to look presentable after claiming victory. Is this party at a friend’s house? I didn’t receive any chaperone emails from Midtown.”  
  
Trevor sighed, “Horizon High. The class president was angry at Washington, but they made up and she asked him to ask the guy who runs Horizon if both schools could have a joint party.  
  
Billy scoffed, “what sense does that make when we’re playing against them tonight.”  
  
Drake smirked, “well boys, you can learn a lot when crossing over to enemy territory.”  
  
“But sir, we smoke those nerds at every game,” Ramon said.  
  
“In my day we use to do more than beat them on the field,” Drake pulled up a folder in the pictures section of his computer. It was a high school photo of Drake and his classmates holding a school mascot. Though it was not the mascot of Drake’s ala mater.  
  
“Dad, you?” Trevor asked.  
  
“College too,” Drake chuckled, “but if you plan on stealing from Horizon they do have security robots—on the other hand, they’ll probably disable them with the Midtown students coming over for the party.”  
  
“So you’re saying Mr. Drake,” Billy grinned, rubbing his chin.  
  
Drake held his hands defensively, “oh I’m not telling you boys to do anything…, but I’m not telling you what you _should_ do as responsible young men.”  
  
“And as responsible young man, we’re not going to do anything _irresponsible_ ,” Trevor smirked.  
  
Drake handed Trevor some money,” you boys have a great time tonight.”  
  
Trevor, Ramon, and Billy left Drake’s office. When he was sure they weren’t coming back he looked at his collection of symbiotes.  
  
“Green—the symbol of nature, safety, luck, sympathy, compassion,” Drake grinned lavishly, “possessive, materialistic, greed, selfish, and envy. I need you to cause a stir at this party little symbiote. And maybe even bring back a fellow symbiote along with you.”  
  


* * *

  
 _At a time like this, I could really use Scream being the second voice in my head._  
  
Dominic stood outside of Anya’s house. It was a nice little house in a West Bronx neighborhood. The path leading to a backyard from the side of the house, a small front yard. It was just a normal building, no different from his own home in Washington Heights.  
  
And yet Dominic couldn’t bring himself to ring the doorbell.  
  
 _Maybe Anya will be on the other end and then we can rush out before her dad would want to speak with me man-to-man… man-to-boy._  
  
Dominic moved his finger toward the doorbell button—  
  
 _Or it’s Mr. Corazon and he’ll want to know my intentions for his daughter… which are to escort her to the dance and show her a good time. Scratch the good time part. He might take that as a double meaning._  
  
Dominic pressed the button.  
  
 _Just relax Dominic. Anya is your friend and you are going to the dance with her as a friend. Nothing more._  
  
The door opened. It wasn’t Mr. Corazon who answered the door, but Mrs. Corazon. That made Dominic relax a little. She looked a little young to be Anya’s mother though. Step-mother?  
  
“You must be our little _Anya Banana’s_ date!”  
  
Dominic kept himself from chuckling at that nickname, “good afternoon Mrs. Corazon. I’m Dominic Washington. Is Anya ready?”  
  
“She’s still getting ready upstairs. And I’m Maria, Anya’s sister.”  
  
“Oh, I didn’t know she had a sister,” Dominic said.  
  
“She’s my little step-sister, but it feels like we’ve always been sisters you know,” Maria smiled and welcomed Dominic inside. “Step-sibling; half-sibling, we’re sisters regardless if we don’t have the same mother.”  
  
“That’s really nice,” Dominic thought about what it would be like if his father remarried. He’d definitely get along with his step-sibling or siblings if it ever happens.  
  
“Would you like anything?” Maria asked.  
  
Dominic couldn’t remember if a guy wasn’t supposed to accept anything when arriving at their dates’ house, but his mouth was dry and he didn’t have any chapstick on him, “a cup of water would be fine.”  
  
Maria left to get his water. Dominic took a look around the living, his eyes falling upon a shelf full of family photos. Two in particular reminding him of his own Mother.  
  


* * *

  
“You two are so cute together!”  
  
Aunt May took one more photo after Peter and Mary Jane got out of her car. It was embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as the dance lessons May gave to him. Gave him flashbacks to Horizon’s first dance party. This time, however, he had a feeling things would turn out differently. No mutant Rhinos or Gamma werewolves. Just a nice dance with the girl who lives with her aunt in his neighborhood. Speaking of Ms. Watson, she was actually worse than Aunt May. She asked if Peter was going to take Mary Jane out another day, much to MJ’s embarrassment and Peter’s nervousness to respond.  
  
But now there were no aunts to embarrass them. Just two teens on da—school grounds ready to have a good time.  
  
“I knew Horizon was huge, but this is crazy!” Mary Jane exclaimed.  
  
Peter chuckled, “that’s everyone’s first reaction. Just wait till you see the inside. Though, I think the moonlight highlights your dress well.”  
  
“Then I guess that means I made the right decision to go with midnight blue,” Mary Jane smiled and held Peter’s hand.  
  
The main lobby was lively with students dancing or just hanging around the huge space. Max, Ms. Marconi, and other staff members from both schools were around to moderate things. Mary Jane showed Peter that Ms. Marconi was already increasing the gaps between a few students who were _touching_. Aleksei and Flash were showing their skills on the dancer floor with someone moderating a small scoreboard.  
  
“Too bad I’m wearing a dress. I would have loved to get up there and show my skills,” Mary Jane said. “I know tuxedos and suits won’t stop guys from dancing though.”  
  
“Well, the floor’s big enough for more than two people,” Peter smiled, “maybe they’ll hold a contest for couples.”  
  
Mary Jane smirked, “you dance?”  
  
Peter grinned, “as early as this evening.”  
  
“Then let’s see what we’re working with,” Mary Jane started dancing a little.  
  
Peter did as well, though Aunt May only showed him how to slow dance, not dance with rhythm. Though Mary Jane wasn’t complaining.  
  
“Pete!”  
  
Miles and his date danced toward Peter and Mary Jane.  
  
“Miles!” Peter looked at Mary Jane. “This is Mary Jane Watson. She’s one of my friends from Midtown High.”  
  
“Nice to meet you,” Mary Jane said.  
  
“Same here,” Miles looked at his date, “this is _Cindy Moon_. She just transferred to Horizon from Calhoun High.”  
  
“Nice to meet you! Isn’t this a great dance or what?”  
  
Before Peter or Mary Jane could answer Miles and Cindy were already dancing away.  
  
“And to think he was worried about not having a date tonight,” Peter smiled.  
  
“So are your other friends here tonight too?” Mary Jane asked.  
  
Peter looked around and saw Dominic, “there’s Dominic, but—he came to the dance with Anya…”  
  
Peter was surprised Miles and Gwen didn’t tell him this, more surprise that Anya came to the dance—with a date, but not specifically Dominic.  
  
“You look surprised,” Mary Jane noted.  
  
“It’s just that Anya isn’t the most… outgoing person in certain situations. She’s not shy, but there are certain things she rather not get into too. Dancing is one of them,” Peter explained.  
  
“Sounds like someone else I know,” Mary Jane said, elbowing Peter lightly.  
  
Peter smiled, “I guess she sees Dominic as a good friend to do something out of her comfort zone.”  
  
“He does have that effect on people,” Mary Jane noticed that Dominic and Anya were talking to Liz and Randy. She was happy to see the three of them talking again.  
  
“Peter!”  
  
Gwen was wearing a pink dress, a necklace with a gold pendant, a gold bracelet, and had her hair in a bun just like last year. The outfit complemented her well.  
  
“Gwen!” Peter said, “I’d like you to meet my friend Mary Jane Watson.”  
  
“So this is the famous Gwen Stacy Peter talks about every day between classes,” Mary Jane smiled.  
  
“What?” Gwen looked at Peter, a smile appearing on her face.  
  
“Talk to,” Peter said, “I think Mary Jane meant to say talk too. I talk about everyone from Horizon. You, Miles, and Anya… not anyone specifically.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s what I meant,” Mary Jane said as she shook Gwen’s hand.  
  
“Peter hasn’t been giving you any trouble has he?” Gwen asked. “He’s not the best of dancers.”  
  
“So far he’s been pretty good,” Mary Jane said.  
  
“I’m still here…,” Peter said.  
  
“Park Peterson!”  
  
 _Only one person has called me Park Peterson…_ Peter saw a face he was never expecting to see again. Though he almost couldn’t recognize this person. They had dyed their hair from ginger to a coffee brown and gained a little weight. But there was no denying that this person was—  
  
“Grady!” Peter exclaimed.  
  
“Park Peterson! You go to this school too?” Grady asked.  
  
“Well I’m hoping to after the open house tomorrow… and my name’s Peter Parker.”  
  
Grady frowned, “no, I strictly remember that you said your name was _Park Peterson_ the last time we meet.”  
  
Peter looked back at Gwen and Mary Jane, specifically Mary Jane to see that they were confused by the names. Peter smiled and shrugged his shoulders before turning back to Grady.  
  
“Then again, being part of an experiment for your high school that was actually a plot to steal the powers of the Avengers by A.I.M can leave a guy with a few memory lapses,” Grady said.  
  
 _Spidey-business, that makes sense,_ Gwen grabbed Grady’s hand, “so Grady, ready to dance again?”  
  
Grady blushed when Gwen held his hand. And if it wasn’t the blush his goofy smile gave away that he had an attraction towards Gwen. “Y—yes.”  
  
Peter wasn’t aware that he rolled his eyes at Grady saying yes to Gwen as if he was in a trance. Mary Jane did. She had a knack for reading people, and she had intuition on how the dance was going to play out.  
  
Mary Jane grabbed Peter’s hand and moved toward the other couples, “we didn’t come here to just stand all night, right?”  
  
“Right,” Peter smiled.  
  


* * *

  
Anya was good at science, she was called a good superhero, she knew that her dancing skills were bad. They weren’t bad like some who can’t dance trying to look like they can dance bad, but she could tell Dominic was trying to match her movements instead of doing the correct steps. It was nice of him to do that, but—  
  
“I think I should be the one keeping up with you,” Anya smiled.  
  
Dominic smiled back, “oh I don’t know, I like your style.”  
  
“Style you say,” Anya rolled her eyes. She knew they were the same person, but it felt different talking to Dominic than it did Spider-Boy. She guessed it was because as Spider-Boy, Dominic wanted to learn so much from her and the others about being a hero. As Dominic, he asks for advice on science and parts for building things, but...he’s more hesitant when it comes to science than heroics. He doesn’t want to fail the spider-heroes as Spider-Boy and feels embarrassed to ask for science advice as Dominic.  
  
Anya felt that way about dancing. But she was with a friend, a new friend whose kindness is no different than her best friends.  
  
She looked Dominic in the eyes and asked, “maybe later… could you teach me how to dance, like you and Gwen?”  
  
“Sure,” Dominic smiled, “but I wouldn’t recommend break dancing right now. That burgundy dress looks too nice to get dirty.”  
  
Anya pushed him with her shoulder, and let a smile creep onto her face at his little joke.  
  
“Um…,” Dominic hummed.  
  
“Hrm?” Anya hummed back.  
  
“Do you know if Horizon has after school tutoring?” Dominic asked. “Or if anyone wouldn’t mind helping out a new student who is a little crass when it comes to science?”  
  
“I might know a few people… or _one_ person,” Anya winked.  
  
Dominic smiled, “nice neckless by the way.”  
  
Anya stopped dancing, “oh, I can’t believe I forgot…” She pressed on her necklace and her dress changed into the same color as the corsage Dominic gave her.  
  
“Wow,” is all Dominic could say.  
  


* * *

  
Ramon was standing watch for Trevor and Billy as they searched Horizon High for the school’s mascot. The athletic teen didn’t ignore Dominic, passing him and Anya a glance at every moment. He was surprised Dominic was dancing with a hottie like that, more surprised that Horizon’s students didn’t look like _nerd_ -nerds. No pocket protects, no duct-taped glasses, no buck teeth, and none of the other features that would make someone a nerd. Well… there was the fat kid with freckles, but he was the only one Ramon has seen so far.  
  
Ramon was about to dance his way over to Dominic and Anya, and butt Dominic out of the way to dance with her. Unfortunately, the music changed to a slower song, and attempting that now would make his plans obvious.  
  
“Excuse me.”  
  
Ramon looked to his side to see a girl with black hair in a purple dress.  
  
“Sajani Jaffrey. I noticed you were staring over that at _those two_. I heard a little rumor that during the slow dance we’re supposed to change partners. Now this my assumption, but I believe you want to dance with Corazon.”  
  
Ramon smiled and placed his hands around Sajani’s waist just she wrapped hers around his shoulders. The two glided across the floor toward Anya and Dominic. Though Sajani and Ramon didn’t go unnoticed by Gwen and Mary Jane. Both girls took the lead over their dates and tried to time the music, unaware of the other’s plans. When the music changed, everyone switched partners and Gwen ended up with Dominic while Peter ended up with Anya. A win for Mary Jane over Ramon and Gwen over Sajani, though Peter felt a little nervous dancing with Anya and not the same nervousness he felt with Gwen and MJ.  
  
“Don’t try anything funny Parker,” Anya knew he wouldn’t, but she loved Peter’s reaction to her tone.  
  


* * *

  
Trevor and Billy found Horizon’s mascot: The Living Brain. It was a robot that Max Modell and Miles Moralesbuilt to help out around Horizon, but it became another invention that Doc-Ock managed to ruin. Now it served as the mascot of Horizon’s sports team the Circuit Breakers. Unfortunately, that means Trevor and Billy have to push a heavy robot out of the school.  
  
And it never crossed the two’s minds that they’ll have to find another exit to sneak it out of.  
  
“Who uses a robot as a school mascot?” Trevor complained.  
  
“A bunch of nerds, that’s who,” Billy turned around and pushed the robot with his back. “I thought this school had flying robots and stuff like that. Why won’t this one fly?”  
  
“Maybe there’s a switch or something,” Trevor stopped pushing and felt around the robot for anything that would turn it on.  
  
He heard the robot’s insides began to make noise, “nice job Billy.”  
  
“Dude, that wasn’t me.”  
  
Trevor and Billy looked at each other and then back at the Living Brain. The light on its head came on and shined on them. Then they heard laughter, distorted, gurgly laughter.  
  


* * *

  
“This really has been a great time,” Peter said as he, Miles, and Dominic stood near the punch bowl. “And both Horizon and Midtown students are getting along well.”  
  
“And teachers,” Dominic added, “I still surprised that Ms. Marconi agreed to come.”  
  
“I’m still surprised Max could dance like that for such a big guy,” Miles said.  
  
“So… you and _Cindy Moon_?” Peter asked.  
  
Miles smiled and rubbed his head, “I take Mr. Lamaz with her. She’s interested in robotics and she helped reconstruct the Living Brain into our school mascot. I… wasn’t expecting her to ask me to the dance though.”  
  
Dominic elbowed Miles, “sounds like you _like_ Cindy.”  
  
“We’re just friends newbie,” Miles decided to mess with Dominic back, “and you’re one to talk. You and Anya were smiling at each other a lot.”  
  
“I noticed that too,” Peter joined in.  
  
“I asked if she could help me with my classwork and she asked if I could show her how to dance,” Dominic said. He decided to change the subject to Peter, “what about you and MJ, Peter?”  
  
“We’re just friends, childhood friends. We live in the same neighborhood and our aunts are good friends,” Peter said.  
  
“Well you know what they say about childhood friends,” Miles chuckled.  
  
“What?” Dominic asked.  
  
“I...I don’t know,” Miles admitted, taking a sip of his punch.  
  
“Well, it might be a good thing you’re trying to transfer to Horizon Peter. I noticed a few guys passing glances at you and Mary Jane,” Dominic said.  
  
“I noticed that Ramon guy whose always bothering you, and Sajani trying to cut in when you and Anya were dancing,” Peter said.  
  
“Now that I think about it… his two buddies have disappeared,” Dominic didn’t see Trevor or Billy anywhere. He remembered seeing them around earlier.  
  
“Maybe they left,” Miles said, being positive, “two less bad apples in the bunch.”  
  
“I don’t know,” Dominic pressed his fist against his lip, “Ramon, Trevor, and Billy always stick together, heck their friendship with each other is the only compliment I can give them. Sure Ramon loses focus whenever he sees a pretty girl, but they’re like The Three Musketeers.”  
  
“Dominic, don’t think about those guys okay,” Peter placed his arm on his shoulder, “you’ve been having a good time so far without thinking about them.”  
  
“Yeah,” Miles grabbed Dominic’s cup, which was still full of punch, “the dance will be over soon, so don’t let the last few moments be about… those three guys.”  
  
Dominic smiled, “you guys are right. Plus, I haven’t danced with Liz yet. And since Flash was her last partner I think she needs a good moment before the night ends too. Ciao!”  
  
Peter and Miles watched Dominic meet up with Liz and start dancing. The music changed from a slow song to a faster one. Seeing Dominic dancing with Liz reminded the two of them that they never danced with Gwen and Anya the entire night. Well, Peter danced with Anya, but Miles hasn’t danced with her or Gwen.  
  
“So Grady and Gwen?” Peter asked.  
  
“Sent her a message with his robot… while they were in the same room,” Miles said. “Guess he’s got a crush on her dude.”  
  
Peter was about to say something else until he felt his spider-sense go off. Miles felt his go off as well.  
  
“Why can’t the world just let us have one good party,” Miles complained.  
  
“We better tell Max that we need to evacuate—” Peter was cut off by the sounds of two screams.  
  
One was Billy, who had just run into the lobby, and the other was a blue-silver symbiote. It looked like Venom, but its mouth was more snout-shaped and it lacked Venom’s spider-symbol, having white streaks in place of it. Everyone scattered as the symbiote jumped into the air and laned on the dancer floor, leaving a small crater where it landed.  
  
“Not another symbiote!” Flash yelled.  
  
Mary Jane pushed him toward the doors, “don’t just stand their Flash!”  
  
Liz pulled Dominic by his arm and followed Flash and MJ. Randy was probably outside, Dominic saw him amongst the crowd who were being pushed along. If Scream was here he could do something, but Dominic had to accept that he was just part of the crowd tonight.  
  
Or did he?  
  
Dominic slipped his jacket without Liz noticing and ran back toward the lobby. He saw that the Spider-Team arrived, and slipped into the hallway without them noticing.  
  
“I swear that symbiote looks familiar, and I’m not talking about the fangs,” Spider-Man shot a few webs at it.  
  
Miles went in with his hands charged with electricity. His punches stung the symbiote and revealed the host to be Trevor. However, Miles didn’t want to release a full blast in case he hurts Trevor in the process. Trevor on the other hand wasn’t fighting the symbiote’s control, and just slammed Miles with two tendrils shaped like sledgehammers.  
  
“Maybe we could hit the symbiote with sound from four directions,” Ghost-Spider suggested.  
  
“Think that’ll work?” Spider-Girl asked. “Last time Venom was immune to sonics.”  
  
“Well _this_ isn’t Venom,” Ghost-Spider ran toward the DJ table, “it’s worth a shot.”  
  
“Then maybe I should operate the DJ table?”  
  
Ghost-Spider and Spider-Girl turned around to see Cindy.  
  
“You need to get out of here miss,” Ghost-Spider said.  
  
“Probably, but I think two spiders would be faster than one,” Cindy smiled.  
  
Both Spider-Women looked at each other and then back to Cindy.  
  
“Manage the music, and stay down,” Spider-Girl ordered.  
  
“Yes- Yes ma’am!” Cindy saluted.  
  
Ghost-Spider and Spider-Girl got to work, turning every stereo in the lobby toward the symbiote. Then they joined in the fight by webbing it up.  
  
“Guys, keep him in the center with webbing!” Spider-Girl yelled.  
  
Spider-Man and Miles did just that. The symbiote was completely covered in webbing, though it was using its mass to cut itself loose.  
  
“That should be enough!” Ghost-Spider turned to Cindy. “Do your thing DJ!”  
  
The four spiders jumped out of the way as Cindy turned on the music. Venom might be immune to sound, but this symbiote wasn’t. It screamed until it fell apart from Trevor, who face planted on the ground after if left him. The symbiote began to crawl toward Cindy at the DJ table.  
  
“Oh no you don’t slimy!” this time Miles shot a stream of electricity that completely vaporized the symbiote. Leaving scorch marks at its last step.  
  
“If only our other fights with Venom could have gone as fast,” Spider-Man said as everyone stood around the scorch mark.  
  
Dominic finally appeared, sliding across the floor with his keytar in hand, “don’t worry guys! My keytar can blow that symbiote away with the power of rock—” He noticed everyone looking at him, and that the symbiote was no longer bonded to Trevor, “—and roll…”  
  
Spider-Girl placed her hands on her hips and smiled, “trying to help out again, I see.”  
  
Dominic knew she was just messing with him and only smiled.  
  
“Well we can thank you Cin—” Miles stopped himself from saying Cindy’s name, “citizen. Brave citizen. Even though you and this young man should have left with everyone else.”  
  
“Sometimes the only way to get a good and _honest_ story is to stick around for the action,” Cindy said.  
  
“You’re a reporter?” Ghost-Spider asked.  
  
“I...run a blog,” Cindy played with her hair. “I worked for the Bugle after they needed a new freelancer, but I didn’t agree with their opinions regarding certain heroes.”  
  
“Well it’s nice to have an honest journalist,” Spider-Man said. ”The two of you should get going before anyone gets worried.”  
  
“Spidey, I think you’re forgetting about—” Dominic was cut off by Carlton Drake, Ms. Marconi, and Max bursting through the front doors.  
  
“Trevor!” Drake rushed past everyone and picked up Trevor in his arms. He turned around and looked at everyone, Max in particular, “what happened!?”  
  
“I—” Max stopped when Spider-Man raised his hand.  
  
“Max was helping escort students of the school so he wouldn’t know that Trevor was taken by a symbiote,” Spider-Man answered.  
  
“Or that it happened because Trevor and Billy were trying to steal Horizon High’s mascot,” Dominic added. “That Living Robot is in the middle of the hallway Billy and symbiote came from.”  
  
“So that creature came from Horizon?” Ms. Marconi asked Max. “Why am I not surprised. After all, that other one came from Horizon as well.”  
  
“No, I don’t know where this other symbiote came from,” Max claimed, “as far as I know there was only the V-252, and that was donated from the Space Administration.”  
  
“Maybe you were quick to draw blame Anna Maria,” Drake looked at Dominic, causing everyone to look at him, “after all, Mr. Washington is just as creditable for this as Max.”  
  
“What?” Dominic’s eyes went wide at the accusation. “I was at the dance the entire night.”  
  
“And yet, you were still in here while Spider-Man was fighting the symbiote,” Drake stated.  
  
“I had just come out of the bathroom and… I made an invention that I thought could help get rid of the creature,” Dominic said.  
  
“And how would you know the weakness of the creature?” Drake pushed on.  
  
“Because I was a witness to a similar creature attacking the Midtown High football game last year,” Dominic said, “and everyone there helped blow the thing off of Flash Thompson with blow horns. I thought my keytar here could do the same, but when I came back the Spider-Men, Spider-Girl, Ghost-Spider, and Cindy took care of it.”  
  
“I believe Dominic has proved he had nothing to do with this Carlton,” Max said, his voice firm and stoic.  
  
Drake loosened up, “I believe you are right Max. However, sometimes one must not lower their guard too easily.” Drake turned around and walked toward the door with Ms. Marconi, “you would be the one to know this after all..”  
  
After Drake and Anna Maria were out of the building, Max told Dominic and Cindy that it would probably be best if they get on home for the night. The Spider-Team noticed that Max, despite keeping a calm attitude, was bothered by Drake’s words. They knew what Drake was referring to.  
  
“Max…,” Spider-Man spoke up, “do… do you need any help with the Living Brain… or—”  
  
“No Spider-Man,” Max sighed, but he smiled at Spider-Man’s generosity, “I just need to look over some things and make sure something like this doesn’t happen during the open house tomorrow. You and your friends should get some rest too, even superheroes deserve a break just like the rest of us.”  
  
“We try oh so very hard,” Miles said.  
  
“Take care Max,” Spider-Man said as he and the other spiders walked out of the building.  
  


* * *

  
When Peter changed out of his costume he noticed that he had a text from Mary Jane. Ms. Marconi rushed all of the Midtown students off of Horizon’s grounds. She mentioned that it didn’t look like this “peace” dance went according to plan. And speaking of the two who had the idea of it, she asked Peter in the text if he could check on Dominic since he, Liz, and Randy had another argument.  
  
 _Wow, Parker. You’ve gone from having your own friendship troubles to causing ones for others._ Peter looked around for Dominic among the Horizon students still hanging around. He almost thought Dominic had gone home for the night until seeing Anya walk toward him.  
  
Peter dialed Mary Jane’s number to check on her. The open house was tomorrow and he needed to get some rest for it anyway. Besides, Dominic already had a friend checking in on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of 2021. Wizards of Waverly Place inspired this one, and it was originally supposed to end differently, but you think of different things when writing early in the morning. The last two episodes of Maximum Venom also made me go back and change a few things for fun.
> 
> We’re introduced to Sajani Jeffery and Cindy Moon. I’ve been reading a bit of Dan Slott’s Spider-Man stories since the 2017 cartoon is partially based on them, and early on many people compared the show’s version of Anya to Sajani. Anya was hard on Peter in the early episodes, so I guess that’s where the comparison came from. That, and the fact both of them had worked on something related to vibranium, inspired me to put her in the story as a sort of rival for Anya.
> 
> As for Cindy, I don’t want to spoil anything, but she’s different from the comic book Cindy regarding origin and family. That’s all I’m going to say.
> 
> The next chapter is on the shorter side, so this time the update hopefully won’t be a huge gap like the other times.


	12. Worst Behavior

**Songs, Spiders, and Symbiotes  
Chapter 12**

* * *

  
Dominic knew Spider-Man would wring his webs for what he was about to do.  
  
The dance between Horizon and Midtown, which would have been a peaceful one if it wasn’t for that blue symbiote, ended a few hours ago. Dominic went home and told Scream everything that happened. He did have a great time dancing and hanging out with Anya, but with Liz and Randy were upset with him again he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t figure out what would make them act so...bipolar. Two days ago they were upset with him for believing Peter didn’t send Venom to attack Midtown, then Liz said this idea for a peace dance, which was a good idea, and now they blame Peter, Anya, and Horizon for that blue symbiote possessing Trevor.  
  
Dominic didn’t like Trevor, but even he wished that the blue symbiote never attacked him. Though Liz and Randy didn’t listen to him, claiming that he was already part of Horizon since he chose to go to the dance with someone from the school. That just doesn’t sound like either of them, especially when they hit it off with Anya when he introduced her to them.  
  
Everything that’s happened with Midtown recently involved the Life Foundation and specifically Carlton Drake. That robot attack, Venom, and now this blue symbiote. Though the only thing that didn’t make sense is why Drake would have it attack his son unless he didn’t know it would bond to Trevor. During the robot attack and while they were training, Spider-Man mentioned to Dominic that many of his enemies have tried to hurt his friends, knowing that he cared for them deeply. The other spiders, Horizon High, and even a family member of Spider-Man’s.  
  
The wallcrawler mentioned that Drake reminded him of one of his enemies.  
  
And then there was Virus. Dominic still couldn’t remember if he heard the man in metallic-symbiote armor mention his real name, or he was hallucinating from lack of oxygen by a crushed throat.  
  
He just wanted to know if Drake knew he was Spider-Boy, more or less targeting him.  
  
Dominic landed on the roof of a building across the street from the Life Foundation. His heart was racing. He wasn’t afraid, just anxious. Spider-Girl, Ghost-Spider, and the other Spidey have mentioned that they’ve gone against Spider-Man’s wishes and have done things without him. Heck, the three of them took care of the city when Spider-Man wasn’t around for a few days.  
  
It was just him and Scream. If they sneak into the Foundation and get captured—  
  
 _Dominic._ Scream turned Dominic’s left hand yellow and made it grasp his right hand. _We’re doing this for your friends, yes? We’re doing this to find out if Drake is hurting people, yes? Being near the foundation makes me uneasy, but I’ve seen them do experiments on my kind. The Life Foundation isn’t like Horizon, they’re bad people. If they’re hurting your friends, we should try and help Spider-Man stop them and Drake._  
  
Dominic breathed, _your right. We have to at least try. Whether we succeed or fail we tell Spider-Man that...we were doing this for friends and Midtown_.  
  
Dominic swung toward the side of the Life Foundations building and yanked out the cover to an air vent. Instead of letting it drop to the ground, he pulled it back inside with him.  
  
The ventilation system was larger than he expected. There was enough room for him to lean back and stretch his legs, not that he wanted or should do that right now. After seeing another vent coming up, Dominic took out his phone to take pictures of anything that might be useful. Nothing at this first one, though there were still people working at the Foundation right now.  
  
Moving along, Dominic didn’t see any of those robots that attacked Midtown High. There were robots that the scientists were working on, but they didn’t look anything like those robots and they weren’t bulky enough to resemble Virus’ armor.  
  
 _Scream, can you sense any symbiotes?_ Dominic asked.  
  
 _Since we’ve entered the vents. Turn right at the next split_.  
  
Scream was on point, the sensation of the symbiotes grew stronger as Dominic crawled further down the path. Then he heard cries and hurried toward a vent.  
  
He gazed into the first vent to see a room with people kept behind glass walls. All they had on were hospital gowns.  
  
 _Is any of this familiar to you Scream?_ Dominic took out his phone to take some pictures.  
  
 _Sadly, this is what all of us symbiotes wake up to when we grasp our senses. It isn’t a pretty sight Dominic._  
  
Continuing on, Dominic noticed the vents further down were possibly all in this room. In the next one, he saw two symbiotes being bonded to animals. They were able to form a perfect symbiosis with them according to the machines.  
  
Then came the cries again.  
  
He scurried over to the next vent, this time seeing Carlton Drake and a few scientists watching a man being dragged away on a stretcher.  
  
“But sir, human trials are still proving to be—”  
  
“Some child is pretending to play Spider-Man’s sidekick with one of my symbiotes, and the one my son bonded to only ended up in a coma because of that insect blasting him with sound!” Drake’s yell made Dominic jump. “If there is a problem Doctor Skirth, it’s that _you_ haven’t prepared the test subjects properly! Or do I need to find _healthier_ guinea pigs?”  
  
Doctor Skirth held back her tongue, “bring in Isaac next.”  
  
Drake smirked, “good girl.”  
  
Two other scientists brought in a man with long hair into the lab. The scientists guided him into this see-through chamber.  
  
“Isaac, a name that doesn’t get the credit it deserves in the good book,” Drake smiled, “well Isaac, you’re going to get credit for helping my Foundation achieve greatness.”  
  
Isaac heard a noise and turned around to see a capsule open behind him. It contained a symbiote, and Dominic could have sworn it matched the symbiote from the dance, but in an ooze form. Isaac panicked at the sight of the symbiote, beginning for anyone to let him out. Drake and his scientists only watched as the symbiote crawled toward him. Not all of the scientists were watching without reactions.  
  
The symbiote crawled up Isaac’s body—and then it sunk into his shirt, presumably into his skin.  
  
Dominic was confused until Scream told him that symbiosis isn’t the only relationship her kind can have with humans. Symbiotes can live inside their hosts like a parasite, however, they only use this ability to heal themselves, and if they want the host too. However, if the host’s body isn’t fit—  
  
Isaac screamed in pain and started moving around wildly. As if he was having a form of a stroke. His arms bent in positions that weren’t possible for human joints, and then he fell to the ground. His eyes were still open, but he wasn’t moving.  
  
The symbiote crawled out of him—through his mouth.  
  
“Bring in the next test subject,” Drake said, no emotion in his voice, no emotion in his face.  
  


* * *

  
Now Dominic was leaning back in the vent. Though he was far from relaxed.  
  
 _Scream is...is that guy—  
  
It’s best to think he’s in a state of shock…, but worse has happened to both humans and symbiotes. The part about symbiotes needing a healthy host is only true for the parasitic relationship, to a certain degree. That man was probably unhealthy for the symbiote to inhabit, but if that symbiote bonded to Trevor as you believe then it could have...put that man into a coma on purpose._  
  
Dominic placed his hand over his chest, _I didn’t need to see that on so many levels. I think I have enough pictures so let’s get—_  
  
“Doctor Skirth, can you make yourself useful and retrieve some documents and my camera from my office?” Drake asked.  
  
 _Okay, maybe one more thing before we leave._ Dominic followed the doctor, trying to keep track of her through the air vents.  
  
 _Dominic, are you sure about this?_ Scream asked.  
  
 _Don’t worry, we drop from the vent after this doctor leaves and copy any information from Drake’s computer to my phone. Then we split._  
  
Drake’s office was just a normal office, with no see-through windows. That was good know as Doctor Skirth left the room.  
  
Dominic dropped down and quickly typed in the password left on a notepad next to the computer. _This is going to be quicker than I thought_.  
  
He typed symbiotes on the desktops search bar and clicked on a folder titled symbiotes. Then he clicked on the documents folder.  
  
“So he did have something to do with Venom attacking Midtown High last week…,” Dominic stuck his flash drive into the computer and copied the files to it, “let’s see what’s in the Spider-Boy folders.”  
  
Pictures of Spider-Boy, some comparing him to the other spiders. Nothing that implied Drake knew or believed that Dominic was Spider-Boy.  
  
“Though I would never have a stalker until I was a famous musician, and I was hoping my first stalker would be a girl,” Dominic looked at the names of some other folders but didn’t open because slowed down the copying process, “Weapons-S, P.H.A.N.T.O.M project, The Sisters, The Brothers, Information on the V-252, Symbiote Spider-Man, Beowulf. Knull, Dragons—what the heck is all of this stuff?  
  
Suddenly, Dominic felt his spider-sense go off.  
  
“Oh boy,” Dominic yanked his jump drive out of the computer, “please don’t be corrupted.”  
  
 _Dominic wait! The vent—_  
  
Electrocuted both Dominic and Scream. Dominic fell to the floor with his legs propped up into the air. He could barely keep his eyes open, but he hears the door click and saw a pair of slick pants.  
  
“Well, look whose finally come home to father…”  
  


* * *

  
“Spider-Boy, oh, Spider-Boy.”  
  
Spider-Boy woke up and found himself inside of the very lab he was taking photos of earlier. He wasn’t inside some chamber but restrained in a chair. His mask and jacket were still on…, but he was in his pajamas.  
  
“Where is _she?_ ” Spider-Boy asked the voice.  
  
“Where is _who_?” the voice asked.  
  
“Scream, my symbiote friend.”  
  
Suddenly the voice chuckled, “I’m, I’m so sorry. I thought you were going to say ‘my symbiote’ there for a second. Good to know you are aware of who owns what.”  
  
“You don’t own her!” Spider-Boy stated.  
  
“Correct, I don’t own her,” Drake stepped out of the shadows, “I own _both_ of you.”  
  
“No, you don’t,” Spider-Boy repeated, “And where is she?”  
  
The lights turned on in the room, to reveal more scientists and that bald guy who is usually at Drake’s side. Spider-Boy guessed it was his bodyguard, but didn’t care at the moment.  
  
“Scream or my SC-4 is still with you,” Drake smirked, “we just had to make sure you would listen to me before doing anything, brash.”  
  
Treece held a gun that had a needle at the tip.  
  
“Symbiote inhibitors, a work in progress,” Drake said, “should keep _Scream_ quiet long enough for us to discuss a few things.”  
  
“The only thing I want to discuss is why you are experimenting on those innocent people?”  
  
Drake scoffed, “innocent, those people are the plagues of society. Those homeless bums, all they do is sit in parks, on the sides of roads and ask for pocket change. Then a kind samaritan gives them enough money to fix themselves openly, and they waste it all on some hamburgers and curly fries.”  
  
“Not all of them.”  
  
Drake leaned into Spider-Boy’s face, “all of them.”  
  
Spider-Boy turned his face, “it still doesn’t mean you have the right to use them as lab experiments.”  
  
“And you don’t have the right to use my symbiote to play hero,” Drake shot back, “but, I am impressed at your abilities. I want to offer you a chance to join my organization.”  
  
“Pass. I’m already part of a team.”  
  
“Yes,” Drake said with disgust, “Spider-Man. He, that Spider-Girl, and the other two are limiting the potential of you and your symbiote.”  
  
Spider-Boy turned to the side and didn’t say anything.  
  
“Listen, my boy,” Drake relaxed his tone, “I’ve seen you in NEWS, fighting like those spiders, trying so hard to emulate them. The truth is, you’re better than them. You can do more with your symbiotes abilities than you could ever imagine.”  
  
“Maybe my symbiote and I prefer to do anything our spider-friends can.”  
  
“ _Spider-friends_ , right. Do you even know who they are? How can you trust them without knowing who they are beneath the mask? And who’s to say they really trust you with that symbiote? They might be plotting your downfall and you don’t know it.”  
  
“Scream and I earned their trust, and I respect that they’re not ready to share their identities with me.”  
  
“So Spider-Man trusted you to sneak in here alone?”  
  
“...”  
  
Drake smirked, “how will he react when...if he finds out you did this without telling him?”  
  
“...”  
  
“My point exactly,” Drake said, “if you ally with me, I can make you a soldier and not the sidekick of a child running around in pajamas. Think of your contributions to humanity akin to being a messiah figure.”  
  
Spider-Boy raised his eyebrow.  
  
“The world will adore you for showing them the next step in evolution, symbiosis. You’ll be famous, a hero for the current generation. And I know how teenagers love attention,” Drake grinned, “especially from girls of the same age. Heck, if you’re interested in any of those spiders… heck again you can claim both of them…, or claim any young missy for yourself.”  
  
“So this is the _real_ Carlton Drake?” Spider-Boy asked, “A plotting, sadistic, and _a misogynist_ scientist who masquerades as a guy trying to help the world.”  
  
“Really? Does any of that matter if I am trying to help humans evolve? And the only thing I am plotting is how to save our world from diseases.”  
  
“By killing people?”  
  
“Sacrifices have to be made for science.”  
  
“Again...killing people!?”  
  
“They’re only in a coma...long coma’s,” Drake said, “so when you and Spider-Man fight these ‘supervillains’ do you actually worry about breaking their jaws, bones, and other body parts.”  
  
“Yeah, we do.”  
  
“Son, I’m trying to open your eyes to the real world,” Drake said, “these symbiotes should not be used to play hero. Spider-Man and his friends are just children, Spider-Man himself being an adolescent power fantasy that is a bad influence on those of your age. It boggles the mind as to why the police and Stark haven’t arrested those four.”  
  
“Because they protect New York, like the _heroes_ they are.”  
  
“The world doesn’t need heroes, it needs soldiers and evolution,” Drake stated, “and you can be the bridge to close that gap.”  
  
“And what would you be, _Mr. Drake_?” Spider-Boy asked.  
  
Drake smiled and held his arms out, “there has to be a leader in this new world, or else the blind will lead the blind. Tony Stark? His technology is stolen almost every week by the likes of A.I.M and H.Y.D.R.A. Max Modell? He lets adolescents with raging hormones work on equipment they have no business tampering with. Spider-Man, as I said, an adolescent power fantasy.”  
  
“So, instead of focusing on your own way of doing good for the world, you focus on those you feel that threaten you and your company,” Spider-Boy smirked until Drake slammed his fist on a table.  
  
“This is about more things than you realize boy! Thanks to the likes of Max Modell and Spider-Man, those spineless cowards at health and safety regulations deemed the V-252 symbiote a dangerous experiment because it was alive! In a world of _green behemoths_ and _photon-powered shrews_ , sentient ooze is what they think we should be afraid of?! Well, I’m going to prove that symbiosis is what this world needs to survive! **And I don’t give a damn if my methods are inhumane!** ”  
  
Drake calmed down. He turned around and looked at his scientists and then back at Spider-Boy, “considering the position you’re in right now, I think you are smart enough to choose the wisest answer. Are you going to join the Life Foundation?”  
  
“I already gave you my answer a few minutes ago,” Spider-Boy answered, remaining calm.  
  
“Is it your final answer?”  
  
“...”  
  
Drake scoffed, “okay then.” He pulled out a cellphone, Spider-Boy’s cellphone from his pocket, and tossed it to Treece.  
  
Treece dropped the phone to the floor and stomped on it.  
  
Drake chuckled at Spider-Boy’s reaction, “there we go, a reaction. Teenagers are so attached to their gadgets. Don’t go giving me another look, couldn’t get past the lock screen on your phone since you had it set to a letter password. I thought teenagers always chose a numbered password.”  
  
“Not every teenager is the same you know,” Spider-Boy muttered.  
  
“Doubt it, but I guess you have point since your friends are not ordinary teenagers,” Drake smiled, “I wanted to invite them here personally someday, but they might come looking for you if your missing. Wait, they don’t know who you are do they.”  
  
“Maybe they do, maybe they don’t,” Spider-Boy smiled, “never said they did or didn’t, just that I don’t know who they are.”  
  
“So they made you tell them?”  
  
“A supervillain unmasked me.”  
  
“And still they didn’t find that a good time to share their identities with you,” Drake smirked, “you still think they value you as a teammate and a friend.”  
  
“Not that it’s your business, but one of them did not trust me more than anyone else. I looked up to them, and it hurt a lot. When we talked and got to know each other we became friends. And honestly, I don’t blame _any_ of them for being nervous considering that my powers come from the bond I share with a creature that is the same species as on that attacked them many times.”  
  
“Oh, I didn’t know Spider-Man was a bigot,” Drake chuckled, “I guess that explains the Spider-Girl with the ponytail and I believe the black-and-red Spider-Man. And then you. What are you by the way?”  
  
“Please just shut up!” Spider-Boy yelled. “This isn’t how I thought being tortured would go...”  
  
“If you’re in such a hurry, I guess we have a more suitable test subject now. And we can see how another symbiotes react to bonding with another one while it has a host,” Drake picked up a needle from the table near him, “but first, I want to sample some of your DNA...for preservation.”  
  
“There is one request I have before you do that,” Spider-Boy paused for a moment, “Midtown High. The V-252 symbiote. And are you doing anything to a group of kids there?”  
  
Drake smirked, “Yes, and...maybe. My workers told me a student from that school was around a few of my symbiote samples, but I don’t believe the one they showed me footage of could be _you_. Teachers have told me he is a bright, young man with no lip like yours. That’s why I sent him to Horizon, to have a good future and to apologize for the accusations against him. As for any other student, I helped watch over a few after the V-252 symbiote attacked them. That was not meant to happen, but things can take unexpected turns. Why do you have an interest in them?”  
  
Spider-Boy muttered, “I don’t. I’m just...trying to figure you out.”  
  
“And now it is I who will figure _you_ out,” Drake clicked the needle as he approached Spider-Boy. “Hope you’re not afraid of needles.”  
  
“I am…,” Spider-Boy smiled as two symbiote tendrils jutted from his shoulder and knocked Drake against a wall, “and when I’m afraid it’s a real _Scream_.”  
  
Scream reformed Spider-Boy’s costume and he was able to break free of his restraints. He shot webbing at his broken phone and the flash drive that was lying on a table.  
  
Treece tried to grab him, but of course, the big man was too slow and ended up strapped into the chair that held Spider-Boy. The scientist only moved out of the way, giving Spider-Boy the chance to web-swing out of the lab.  
  
“You fools, why are you just standing around,” Drake yelled as he got up, “get security and get back to work!”  
  
The scientist all scattered around, though Drake wasn’t really upset at them. He just wanted to make sure Spider-Boy heard him barking commands like a _villain_. He placed the needle back on the table and pulled out a test tube that held blood.  
  
“Thank you for the blood donation, _Dominic_. It’ll come in handy for me in due time. Or maybe...one last parting gift before my big trip. Just have some fun with you and your little friends.”  
  


* * *

  
“You did what!?!”  
  
No web wringing, but that yell was close to being able to hurt Spider-Boy and Scream. The two ran into Spider-Man when Dominic needed to get to Horizon to help set up for the open house as he promised Gwen. With Spider-Man nearby, he might as well tell him everything.  
  
“I know it was reckless, dangerous, and stupid,” Spider-Boy said apologetically. He stood his ground and looked Spider-Man in the eyes, “but I did it for Midtown High and a few students who may have been behaving differently after the Venom attack. I downloaded files from Drake’s computer on a flash drive, but I didn’t get the chance to download all of them. Drake did confirm he was behind Venom attacking Midtown.”  
  
Spider-Man took a breath to relax, “then...he does know who you are.”  
  
“Or not...I’m not sure,” Spider-Boy crossed his arms, “I think he paid for my enrollment to Horizon High. No, he straight up said he paid for my enrollment as an apology for his workers accusing me the day I was trapped with you guys and the Wild Pack. He was just acting so coy.”  
  
“Then as Dominic, play coy with him,” Spider-Man said, “whenever he decides to hold a conversation with you, act like he’s the guy _claiming_ to help Midtown High.”  
  
“All part of having a secret identity, right?” Spider-Boy smiled.  
  
“Did he do anything else to you?” Spider-Man asked.  
  
“Besides testing a symbiote inhibitor on Scream and me, he tried to get me to join the Life Foundation and turn me against you guys. Then he said some _things_ about Spidey, Spider-Girl, and me...” Spider-Boy could tell Spider-Man understood what he meant, “Spider-Man, Drake is just putting on a façade. He’s testing symbiotes on humans, claiming that symbiosis is the next step to human evolution. But he’s killing people his workers kidnap off the streets.”  
  
“Like that Captain America impersonator,” Spider-Man recalled him and his group, _The Jury_ if he recalled. “And how is he killing them?”  
  
“Well some people end up in a coma, but the process is still painful,” Spider-Boy explained, “these symbiotes he has in his lab, they’re less symbiotic and more parasitic. The hosts aren’t healthy enough to support the symbiotes, so either the host goes into a coma or both the host and symbiote...go into a coma.”  
  
“A parasitic relationship,” Spider-Man pondered, “and his scientist were okay with this?”  
  
“One questioned him, a few were horrified, but the rest was as emotionless as he was.”  
  
“Just like another scientist I knew,” Spider-Man placed his hand on Spider-Boy’s shoulder, “I still don’t like that you did this, but thanks for getting some information out of it. I’ll look over the flash drive when I get the chance. After the night you and Scream had, you two should get some rest. And I should know since my enemies got the drop on me from lack of sleep a few months back.”  
  
“Yeah,” Spider-Boy smiled, “I’m going to have a tutor pretty soon so I might be busy for a while. Science isn’t really my thing.”  
  
“Just take it in steps, like how you’ve become a superhero,” Spider-Man held out a fist.  
  
Spider-Boy smiled and bumped it back, with Scream placing a symbiotic hand on top of both their fists.  
  
“And you too Scream,” Spider-Man chuckled.  
  
Spider-Boy waved goodbye and swung off for Horizon. Spider-Man waited for him to disappear into the distance before taking off again himself. First was the Horizon open house, and then researching the information Spider-Boy gathered.  
  
 _I kept saying that Drake reminded me of Norman, but now something tells me that he might even be worse than him..._


End file.
